LOUISVILLE – What a difference a few days in the Kentucky heat made for War Emblem as he prepped for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, where he’ll be heavily favored to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Sunday morning at Churchill Downs, when War Emblem came back from a light gallop in the humid 90-degree heat, he was lathered up with foam that looked like shaving cream under his saddlecloth and between his hind legs. As he was being washed off, he seemed slight, even skinny – certainly nothing like you’d expect a potential Triple Crown winner to look like.
But Monday, after a stronger gallop in slightly cooler weather, he morphed back to the lean, mean fighting machine that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
Then yesterday, taking to the track at 8:15 a.m., War Emblem was a picture of power in his final Belmont drill, working five furlongs in 1:01 with exercise rider Dana Barnes sitting chilly the whole way around.
“Perfect!” said trainer Bob Baffert, who watched the work from the grandstand while transmitting instructions to Barnes via walkie-talkie. “He wants to get it on. Everything looks like a big go.”
Then Baffert breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew, I’m glad that’s over. You couldn’t put a nail up my [butt] during that work.”
Baffert pulled out his constantly ringing cell phone and called Richard Mulhall, manager of owner Prince Ahmed bin Salman’s The Thoroughbred Corp., in California. “He worked awesome,” Baffert said. “And it’s hot here, Sudan hot.
“The heat bothers me more than him, just worrying about it.”
War Emblem went in even fractions of :12.1, :24.1, :36.2 and :48.1, galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.3.
“I shut him down (after five furlongs),” said Baffert. “I didn’t want him to do too much. He’s one tough hombre, and his energy level is still high, especially on a hot day like this.”
Baffert credits Barnes with teaching the aggressive War Emblem to relax, a key factor in getting him to stretch his speed a classic distance.
“The thing that’s most impressive about him is, he’s tougher to pull up every time,” she said. “He has so much energy and stamina. He makes my job so easy. All I have to do is sit there.
“He’s like a cloud. He just floats. You don’t even feel him hitting the ground.”
Barnes was the workout rider for Baffert’s other 3-year-old superstars: Silver Charm, Real Quiet and Point Given.
“They were all special, and he’s as good as any of them,” she said.
War Emblem will fly to New York this morning, along with Proud Citizen and Perfect Drift, and is expected on the Belmont Park backstretch by 10:30 a.m.