Beating Fonz’s Was Cool Predictor

Once upon a time, War Emblem and Fonz’s ran in the Illinois Derby. Shipping in from Hollywood Park seven weeks ago, Fonz’s had run well against California’s best 3-year-olds and went off at a respectable 7-2. At 6-1, War Emblem’s odds were even higher.

Most of the English-speaking world--and Saudi Arabia--know what’s happened since. War Emblem won the Sportsman’s Park race, beating third-place Fonz’s by 10 3/4 lengths, to launch a hellbent streak that’s produced wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and left the Saudi-owned colt within one victory--in the Belmont Stakes on June 8--of becoming the first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.

While War Emblem shoots for another $1-million purse and the $5-million Triple Crown bonus, Fonz’s, unraced since suffering a hoof injury in the Sportsman’s race, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in today’s Laz Barrera Memorial, a $150,000 race that kicks off a strong card at Hollywood Park.

No one could possibly have envisioned what was ahead for War Emblem the day he beat Fonz’s and seven others that April afternoon in suburban Chicago, but David La Croix, who trains Fonz’s, is as high as trainer Bob Baffert on Prince Ahmed Salman’s colt now.

“Who’s going to run with him in the Belmont?” La Croix said Sunday at Hollywood Park, where his 7-5 favorite, Royal Place, finished fourth in the $69,530 Willard Proctor Memorial Stakes. “I can see him just coasting through the mile and a half.”

Five days after the Illinois Derby, the prince bought 90% of War Emblem for $900,000. The next time La Croix saw Baffert, after the Kentucky Derby, he said:

“That colt you bought is not much to look at, but maybe that’s because he’s so damn fast you can never get a good look at him.”

Before the Illinois Derby, War Emblem had won half of his six starts, but was badly beaten in all three stakes outings. However, in a one-mile prep for the Illinois Derby, he was a 10 3/4-length winner in an allowance race at Sportsman’s.

“He got a 98 Beyer [speed rating] for that race,” La Croix said, “so you knew going into our race that he liked the track and had a lot of run in him. Then the race set up for him when One Tuff Fox got scratched.”

One Tuff Fox was another horse with early speed that might have pressured War Emblem, but he was declared by the stewards when his groom, in violation of Illinois rules, went to take a shower, leaving the colt unattended after he had been given a bleeders’ medication in a holding barn.

Skeptics said that War Emblem was lucky a second time in the Kentucky Derby, when the speedy Buddha was scratched and Medaglia d’Oro, another horse with early speed, had a bad start, but War Emblem silenced the doubters in the Preakness. He will be odds-on in the Belmont, much like Real Quiet was when his Triple Crown aspirations were dashed by Victory Gallop in 1998.

Despite the presence of a heavy favorite, at least nine other horses are probable for the Belmont: Proud Citizen, Essence Of Dubai, Like A Hero, Magic Weisner, Perfect Drift, Puzzlement, Request For Parole, Sarava and Sunday Break. Others that might run include Medaglia d’Oro, Tracemark and Wiseman’s Ferry.

Trainer Wayne Lukas, who trains Proud Citizen, said Sunday that Table Limit, who was 11th in the Preakness, will miss the Belmont because of a hoof injury.

“I guess everybody saw a 50-1 shot [Magic Weisner, who was second at 45-1] almost come in at the Preakness, and they’re willing to take a chance,” Baffert said.

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Crowned Dancer, a maiden, won the Willard Proctor by five lengths at Hollywood Park. Jockey Martin Pedroza won three consecutive races on the card.... Take Charge Lady, the winner Saturday of the Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs, might be headed for Belmont Park for the Mother Goose on June 29.