'War Pass' must battle back in Wood Memorial

In Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," a soothsayer tells the celebrated mass murderer to "beware the Ides of March." The Roman dictator ignores the weirdo's advice, which was a bad move. Down goes Caesar! Down goes Caesar! As Clemenza from "The Godfather" would have said, "Big Julie? You won't see him no more."

The most recent Ides of March, Saturday the 15th, also was a very bad day for Robert LaPenta, a New Yorker with Italian bloodlines. Like Caesar, his previously undefeated colt War Pass ran into an ambush and went down hard. Last year's 2-year-old champion finished last at odds of 1-20 in the Tampa Bay Derby as his stunned owner watched.

"That whole day had to be my worst in racing," LaPenta said Tuesday. "Seeing him flailing and in distress at the top of the stretch, I'll never forget that."

War Pass reared just before the gates opened and was squeezed back from both sides, which kept him from gaining his accustomed position on the lead. He never recovered and retreated meekly with a quarter-mile to go, leaving LaPenta and trainer Nick Zito disgusted and searching for reasons why.

"We scoped him twice and found nothing," La Penta said, "but I think the most likely explanation is that he flipped his palate and couldn't get his air. We don't really know what happened. If he flipped his palate, then we have a reason, but if he did, that's bad because it might happen again."

War Pass' chance to prove that his only defeat was a fluke will come Saturday at Aqueduct in the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial, New York's most important Kentucky Derby prep. A solid comeback performance will send him to Louisville for the first Saturday in May. "Frankly, whether he wins or not isn't crucial to me," LaPenta said. "I just want to see him moving forward. I want to see how he reacts mentally and physically [to the Tampa Bay Derby].

"It's going to be a day of a lot of apprehension and stress, and we're looking forward to seeing which War Pass shows up. But if he's at the top of his game, he should win this race."