Breaking News! War Pass Injured!

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.

Derby and Oaks Preparations!

Yesterday was a really nifty day. I went to Ann Arbor for my yearly cardiac checkup, went home and voted in the Ohio primaries, slogged around in the icy snow, had dinner with a friend and watched the Academy Award winning film No Country for Old Men AND I received a slew of HorseWatch emails alerting me to activity by some of my favorite fillies and colts! They were all being registered as formal contenders for the $2 million Kentucky Derby and the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks -- their names were pouring in El Gato Malo, Pyro, War Pass, Cool Coal Man, Proud Spell, Indian Blessing, Golden Dawn, Country Star and others!

So, here is my first official Derby and Oaks 2008 postings for you! In this photo, you see one of the colts, El Gato Malo by El Corredor and One Bad Cat by Mountain Cat (out of Storm Cat). This photo was taken when he was a young boy by his syndication owners West Point Thoroughbreds. The other photo is of my sweet little unbeaten Eclipse two-year-old filly Indian Blessing by Indian Charlie and Shameful by Flying Chevron. The photo was taken by the talented Terence Dulay last year at the Breeders Cup, the site of IB's bigger wins!

This weekend is filled with important trial races, including the Louisiana Derby and Oaks. In the Lousiana Oaks, Proud Spell will try for the third time to beat Indian Blessing -- they have finished 1/2 their past two times together. It's going to be a big day of racing.

Anyway, if you want to start tracking your Derby and Oaks contenders and picking your favorites then please go to the official homepage links below:
http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2008/
and
http://www.kentuckyoaks.com/2008/

Breaking News! War Pass and Cool Coal Man have big weekend!

Here are photos of War Pass and Cool Coal Man taken this past weekend as they won their races. Both horses are owned by Robert LePenta and trained by Nick Zito, so the whole family is very happy. War Pass earned his 5th win in 5 starts in his 3 year-old debut in a $60,000 allowance race in Gulfstream Park. He is the 2007 Eclipse Award winning 2-year-old colt Champion and a top contender for the Kentucky Derby this spring. He won the Breeder's Cup Juvenile last October. So far, he's earned $1,433,400 for his dad. He won his spring debut by 7 1/2 lengths!

His trainer said, "He broke like a rocket." His parents are Cherokee Run and Vue by Mr. Prospector, so he is closely related to Violet, especially on her dad's side. Dame Francesca is War Pass's grandma, and Cherokee Run's dad is Runaway Groom! He also has Nasrullah, War Admiral and Count Fleet.

Cool Coal Man is also a contender for the Kentucky Derby and here you see him edging to a win in the $350,000 G2 Fountain of Youth race shortly after his brother, War Pass, won his allowance race.

Both horses are fabulous, truly fabulous. So, no wonder their dad said, "Right now, you'd have to say we're over the moon!" He is excited about his boys!