I personally believe he was,or is,injured.It looked to me like Cornelio was going to pull him up in the stretch at one point,and the horse did not look comfortable running at all.I'm betting he's hurt.

I'm not disputing his ability to win with a free-and-clear trip. The horse is a mover and glides over the ground with visual ease. I'm disputing the "toss" factor of this race.

So, you equate simply being on the lead with "ideal"? That reminds me of what people used to say about Azeri. "She needs things her own way." Total nonsense. She ran the opening 3/4 in the 2002 BC Distaff in under 1:10, and romped. But she DID need to be on the lead, most of the time. In fact, she NEVER lost a two-turn race when she was sent to the front. Go back and look at the fractions that War Pass has set in his previous races. He has simply outrun everyone from start to finish. "Ideal" would be alone and slow. War Pass doesn't need slow, and may not need alone.

That is what happens I guess when the undefeated 2 yo champ runs a poor race at 1/9 when for the first time he faced early adversity, no matter how monumental or trivial you characterize it.

Travis, the only way he doesnt get a free and clear trip is when the gate crew doesnt do their job. Hes broke like a rocketship in all other starts

R, I think you're putting too much emphasis on the bad break. I think it's a combination of things... bad break, quirky surface that he didn't like, rank (which he has shown he can be in the past) and possibly sore. He didn't look comfortable to me at all (maybe the surface?)

How can you tell on TV?:D

I'm not here to argue the definition of ideal, that's not my point, which again, you're totally dancing around.

The break is the only variable with him winning or losing today. To me it cannot be downplayed. If he opens up a clear advantage the race is over. Hes ran at Sar, Mth, Gsp, and Bel, hes ran on fast, hes ran on sloppy. Hes never shown any dislike for anything until today. He dislikes being behind, between, outside of others. Lucky for him he wont be if hes allowed a clean break

I guess your point is that the race should not be tossed because War Pass still had a chance to win in spite of his bad break. I'm saying that his bad break took him compltely out of his running style and forced him to do something he has no experience doing if he wanted to win. I am also saying there is no reason to predict that this exact same scenario will occur again in the Derby, therefore there is nothing meaningful to be learned by this race today in regard to War Pass. Unless of course you think Zito hoped War Pass would teach himself to stalk and pounce.

So let's bring this full circle to my first point, that if you toss this race, you are ignoring what this race taught. But if what I read is correct, you did learn something, so this race did teach you something, and therefore, you're not tossing it. Forgiving his last place finish? That's fine, as I am too. But to just toss it, in my opinion, is ultra-risky.

They said on TVG that War Pass had not been injured. We will still need to wait a few days to know for sure.

If War Pass was sick or not feeling well like someone said and they knew about it, Zito should definitely not have ran him in this race. That can ruin horses for good. Happened to Belgravia.

I think he didn't like the surface of the track and needs everything to go his way to win. I also still think, as I have said before, that he moved way up in the BC Juvy on the slop.

i would argue that it was a very meaningful race, that War Pass is not versatile, needs things to set-up his way in order to perform at his best and cannot pass a horse. If you want to totally discount why thats important information with regard to the derby then all I can say is Good Luck.

Let me rephrase: This race taught me nothing relevant. So I'm tossing it.

i seriously doubt that zito would run him had he had any doubts about him physically.

I doubt it too, but someone else on here said that reports were that War Pass wasn't feeling well. I don't know if it is true or not...

I don't know that much about Zito so...

Not feeling well was reported on a local radio show hosted by Roger Stein. Roger said today was the day to bet against War Pass because fo the rumor and this was also the last chance to try and rate him in a race.

Thanks for the info...

Rarely agree with you Jim, but I think you're spot-on here.

I have a feeling we won't be seeing War Pass again. Hope I'm wrong.