War Pass needs to pass test at Wood

After winning its first five races, the horse finished last three weeks ago.

NEW YORK (AP) — Three weeks after War Pass finished last following five front-running victories, owner Robert LaPenta nervously awaits the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Race Track today.

“I’ve got to tell you, it’s going to be a day filled with a lot of apprehension and stress,” LaPenta said earlier this week. “We’re looking forward to see which War Pass shows up.”

LaPenta is not alone, since the 3-year-old colt’s performance likely will determine whether the one-time Kentucky Derby favorite will run on the first Saturday in May.

“I think if he runs a very competitive race [today], he should go,” LaPenta said. “If he ran a very poor race, that would say there is something wrong and we haven’t found it, and we’d have to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate the whole plan.”

War Pass opened his career by ripping off five straight wins, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and was voted 2-year-old champion. After opening 2008 with a win, next came the Tampa Bay Derby March 15.

Sent off as the 1-20 favorite, War Pass was restless in the gate, got pinched between horses at the start and might have experienced breathing problems in finishing 23 1/4 lengths behind winner Big Truck.

“The whole day and all the events will be indelibly ingrained in my mind for a long time,” LaPenta said, calling the race his worst experience as an owner. “You could see him flailing at the top of the stretch — he was clearly in distress. That was something I’ll never forget.”

War Pass underwent extensive tests and nothing turned up, LaPenta and trainer Nick Zito have said. Zito said the colt seems to be in top form following a sharp workout last week at the Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach, Fla.

LaPenta theorized War Pass might have flipped his palate — when a horse’s soft palate moves to obstruct the epiglottis during periods of exertion, which obstructs air flow. Zito still has no answer for the loss.

However, the two-time winning Derby trainer says racing fans can count on one thing in the 1 1/8-mile Wood: “Nobody will be in War Pass’ way early.

“I don’t know what the outcome will be,” he added, “but I can tell you one thing — he’ll be on the lead.”

A field of 10 3-year-olds was entered Thursday for the Wood, with War Pass the 6-5 favorite after drawing the No. 5 post position. The colt again will be ridden by Cornelio Velasquez.

Tale of Ekati is the 9-2 second choice, with Texas Wildcatter at 5-1 and the entry of Court Vision and Inner Light at 6-1.

Also entered were Giant Moon (12-1), Roman Emperor and Spurrier (both 15-1), Anak Nakal (20-1) and First Commandment (30-1).

In other Derby preps this weekend, Colonel John (2-1) and El Gato Malo (5-2) top an 11-horse field in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby and unbeaten Denis of Cork is the one to beat in a seven-horse field for the 1 1/8-mile Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Park.