Baffert and Lukas Save Best for Last

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  The War Emblem-Proud Citizen rivalry has not stirred up Triple Crown memories of Affirmed and Alydar, or even Sunday Silence and Easy Goer, perhaps because Proud Citizen was beaten by four lengths while second in the Kentucky Derby, then he backtracked to third place in the Preakness.

The Bob Baffert-Wayne Lukas story line has more of a chance as their horses head into the Belmont Stakes a week from Saturday: two refugees from the quarter horse ranks at Los Alamitos, Lukas having won the Belmont four times and Baffert trying to win his second in a row. The bigger picture is the Triple Crown--Baffert horses were thwarted twice in a bid for a sweep, and more recently Lukas missed out when his Charismatic, after winning the Derby and the Preakness, finished an injured third in the 1999 Belmont.

At Churchill Downs, Lukas trains Proud Citizen out of a barn less than 100 yards from where Baffert is sending War Emblem, the Derby-Preakness winner, through his daily paces. Their two colts will share a plane with several other horses who are being flown to New York on Wednesday.

In 1999, Lukas thought Charismatic had a big chance to end the Triple Crown drought, but instead Lemon Drop Kid, at 29-1, won the race and Lukas’ colt suffered a career-ending leg injury.

“I thought Charismatic’s chances of winning the Belmont were better than Baffert’s two horses [Silver Charm and Real Quiet in 1997-98] before us,” Lukas said, “and now I think War Emblem’s chances are better than either of Baffert’s other two horses. The [front-running] style that War Emblem used to win the Derby and the Preakness bodes well for him in the Belmont.”

Still, Lukas and his jockey, the veteran Mike Smith, will not be running for second money. The Belmont will be Smith’s 26th Triple Crown race. He won the 1993 Preakness with Prairie Bayou, three weeks before the ill-fated gelding broke down and was euthanized after the Belmont.

“I know they’d try to spoil my Triple Crown if I was going for one,” Smith said.

Smith, 36, has won more than 4,000 races and likes the idea that Belmont Park can be considered a home track for him and Proud Citizen, even though the horse and the jockey began the year in Southern California. In his first start as a 3-year-old, coming off ankle surgery from the year before, Proud Citizen beat only one horse in the Santa Anita Derby. Smith, who moved from the East Coast to California in May 2001, is a seven-time riding champion at Belmont, where he won two Breeders’ Cup races, with Unbridled’s Song and Inside Information, in 1995.

Proud Citizen ran the first two races of his career at Belmont, breaking his maiden by 91/4 lengths in a sprint there about a year ago.

“This could work to our advantage,” Smith said. “It would be a big thing if I could pull it off.”

Smith has grudging admiration for War Emblem, a versatile colt whose six wins have come at five tracks.

“My horse had a lot of trouble in the Preakness,” Smith said, “but when we got close to War Emblem, he showed another gear.”

Said Lukas, “I thought we had a great chance going into the Preakness, and if he had had a decent trip, he would have done a lot better. As it was, he ran a super race. You just couldn’t spot a cruising leader the trouble we had in the race. My horse’s energy level has been good since then. The Belmont’s always an intriguing race, because it’s the only one run at a mile and a half, and that makes for a gray area. You always wonder about a horse’s ability to run that far.”

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Doug Cauthen, president of WinStar Farm, said that his farm and a minority partner, Taylor Made Farm, paid $10.1 million for Our Emblem, the sire of War Emblem.... Pat Day will ride Like A Hero in the Belmont. Laffit Pincay had ridden the colt in his only four races.... Request For Parole, fifth in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. He suffered a slab fracture to his left foreleg and, after surgery, will return to training.