Yesterday, the breaking news was that War Pass will be pulled from Derby contention because of a fracture in his front left sesamoid bone in his ankle. His trainer, Nick Zito, and dad, Robert LaPenta, are very disappointed.War Pass was a big freight train of a colt who won all four of his starts as a 2 year-old and then earned the Eclipse 2 year-old Colt of the Year. But this year was a different story. He has only one 1 of 3 starts this spring. And in the Tampa Bay Derby in March, he placed dead last, losing by over 23 lengths. In that race, he was restless in the gate, got bumped hard and squeezed early, and had a fever. And then on April 5, at the Wood Memorial Stakes, he placed, right behind Tale of Ekati, after a terrific powerful grueling effort with unbelievably blazing times early in the race which left him depleted for the final push. You can see the photo from that race above.
His trainer thinks he was injured in that race. But Zito says that War Pass came off the track at Belmont that day, strong and powerful, and that was probably because of the heart he has -- a true champion heart. Since then, he's had good days, bad days. Zito said that he couldn't put his finger on it because there was no swelling or heat. But finally they did X-Rays yesterday and found the fracture.
They hope that he'll recover and return to racing, though just not in the Kentucky Derby. He's walking sound and has no swelling, so they are very hopeful. As a side note, his dad, Robert LaPenta, must have a thing for big black colts because now with War Pass recovering and out of the Derby, he still has a Derby contender in another black powerhouse, the famous Cool Coal Man.