For the 13 millionth time, a horse that couldn't lose did. The previously unbeaten War Pass couldn't deal with his first taste of adversity Saturday and finished last in the Tampa Bay Derby. Once the 2007 2-year-old champion was pinched back at the start, he was up against it, and he never made it to his accustomed spot on a long and easy lead. Owner Robert LaPenta said earlier in the week that his Derby hopeful didn't like being near or next to other horses in a race, and he wasn't kidding. When one-dimensional front-runners have dirt kicked in their face, they usually react like a bully the first time he gets punched in the nose. Shocked, they give up.
"You saw what happened [at the break]," trainer Nick Zito said. "But he got moving and I thought he was in a good position going down the back, but when [jockey Cornelio Velasquez] asked him, nothing happened. I don't know what happened. I just don't know."
Afterward, LaPenta mentioned that War Pass had a slight fever early last week. Anyone who took 1-20 odds on him would have thought twice if they'd been aware of that. The age-old lesson: No matter how good a horse looks on paper, you never know. I thought that for War Pass to lose at Tampa Bay Downs that he had to fall or refuse to leave the gate. As it turned out, he might as well have dwelt in the stalls, because after the bad start, he was finished.
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