Baffert does it at Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- War Emblem showed up at Bob Baffert's barn a mere three weeks ago. Even the trainer joked that he would need his best and shortest training job to win the Kentucky Derby.\nBaffert came through.\nWar Emblem went wire-to-wire and left 17 3-year-old challengers in the dust, rolling to a four-length victory over Proud Citizen and giving Baffert his third Derby victory in six years.\n"We sort of came in here through the back door, but we are leaving through the front door," Baffert said.\nAnd with a lot of money. In addition to the winner's purse of $875,000, War Emblem earned a $1 million bonus from Sportsman's Park for winning the Derby after winning the Illinois Derby.\nThe victory at Churchill Downs was Baffert's third in the last six Derbys; he won with Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998. He finished fifth with Salman's favored Point Given last year.\nThe trainer joined Max Hirsch and "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons as three-time Derby-winning trainers. Only D. Wayne Lukas, with four, and Ben A. Jones, with six, have more.\nBaffert was lucky to get here. He lost more than a dozen Derby prospects for various reasons, including the Saturday morning scratch of Danthebluegrassman.\nAnd the only reason he had War Emblem was because the prince bought the horse after it won the Illinois Derby.\nProud Citizen, Lukas' last-minute Derby chance after the colt won the Lexington Stakes, ran a solid second. Like Baffert, Lukas was not considered a serious contender.\n"I couldn't be happier with the way this horse ran," said Lukas, after finishing second in the Derby for the first time. "He beat some nice horses, and I think he'll beat some more down the line."\nWar Emblem, as expected, set the pace in the 1-mile Derby and never let go of the lead, finishing in 2:01.13 -- ninth-fastest in Derby history. The record belongs to Secretariat at 1:59.25 in 1973.\nThe victory was No. 5 in seven career starts and made War Emblem the first Derby winner to lead from the start since the filly Winning Colors in 1988.\n"I told the prince, 'I owe you a Derby after last year,'" Baffert said. "... The prince kept saying, 'Pinch me, Pinch me. Is this really happening?' "\nProud Citizen was followed by Perfect Drift and Medaglia d'Oro, all of whom broke behind the winner and never seriously challenged for the lead.\nHarlan's Holiday, the 6-1 favorite, was seventh and never a factor.\nSaarland, who was the second choice at 7-1, never made a run at the end and wound up 10th. The colt, trained by Shug McGaughey, is owned by Cynthia Phipps, daughter of the late patriarch of racing's most famous family, Ogden Phipps.\nIrish-based Johannesburg, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner sent off at 8-1, was eighth in his return to America. Essence of Dubai, Sheik Mohammed's $2.3 million colt and supposedly his best Derby hope yet, was ninth. He went off at 10-1.\nWar Emblem's jockey Victor Espinoza, a first-time Derby winner, said he knew he had won the race at the half-mile pole.\n"He was going so easy. I knew nobody was going to catch me," he said.\nEspinoza said Baffert told him to be patient and not make his move too soon. Of course, it didn't turn out that way.\n"He told me to come from the gate clean and don't move until the last minute. I think he told me that a thousand times. Finally, he was right," Espinoza said.\nActually, the rider had no choice. The first time he saw Baffert was early Saturday morning.\n"This was like my first blind date," he said.\nDespite the late scratches of Wood Memorial winner Buddha and Danthebluegrassman, the field was one of the most wide open in years.\nWith no designated super horse like Point Given or Fusaichi Pegasus to grab the bettor's fancy, Harlan's Holiday went off at the highest odds ever for Derby favorites. In 1999, Baffert's entry of Excellent Meeting and General Challenge went off at 4.80-1.\nThe Derby favorite has won only twice in the last 24 years.\n"We're just glad we were able to purchase this horse and it is a great win for all of us," Baffert said.