5.4.2002	Photo By: Four-Footed Fotos
		Jockey Victor Espinoza raised his whip in triumph after winning his first Kentucky Derby (GI) on the Thoroughbred Corp.'s War Emblem at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. on May 4, 2002. "I can't explain to the public or everybody how you feel when you win this Kentucky Derby or this kind of big race," said Southern California-based rider Espinoza. "I just don't have words to say how good of a feeling that I have. There's nothing like it, to win a big Kentucky Derby."

War Emblem, Proud Citizen Preakness Bound; Saarland Injured
By, John Asher

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 5, 2002) - On the day after Kentucky Derby 128, only two of its participants - the victorious War Emblem and runner-up Proud Citizen - were on the list of horses considered "definite" for the Preakness (GI), the second jewel of the Visa Triple Crown.

The Preakness will be run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. on Saturday, May 18.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who scored his third Kentucky Derby victory in three years when The Thoroughbred Corp's War Emblem led from start-to-finish in Derby 128, said the Kentucky-bred son of Our Emblem came out of the race well and would be pointed toward the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. War Emblem walked under Baffert's shedrow on Sunday morning.

"It looks good," he said. "You can tell he ran hard. He's a little tired today. Yesterday he was pretty wound up after the race, but today he's finally mellowed out a little bit. He can be tough, this son of a gun."

War Emblem drew away in the stretch to win by four lengths and covered the 1 ¼-miles in 2:01.13 over a "fast" track. The winning time was the ninth fastest in Derby history.

Baffert is still getting to know his latest Derby winner. The colt arrived in his barn less than a month ago after Prince Ahmed bin Salman, the Saudi Arabian prince who heads The Thoroughbred Corp, purchased him privately after the colt's runaway victory in the Illinois Derby (GII). Baffert said he would follow the pattern established by his earlier Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet ('98) and train the horse at Churchill Downs before shipping to Baltimore late next week.

"I'll train him here - this track (at Churchill Downs) is so good this year," Baffert said. "He (track superintendant Butch Lehr) had it great, he had it really great. This track is in awesome shape. I'm just going to train him, take him up there and what happens, happens. That's the approach I'm taking."

Robert Baker, David Cornstein and William Mack's Proud Citizen also got an easy day after his strong Derby finish. He tracked the winner most of the way, dropped back to third in upper stretch and then fought back to edge Perfect Drift for the runner-up position for four-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas. The Derby was just the second start for Proud Citizen since early September.

"He is doing well and I think he should move forward off this race and I think he will run well in the Preakness," Lukas said. "He is getting very good now, and I think we are in the same position with him now that a lot of other guys were in March."

Others from the Derby field that could show up in Baltimore include Edmund Gann's Medaglia d'Oro, who finished a good fourth after a rough start, and Starlight Stable's beaten favorite Harlan's Holiday, who finished seventh. Medaglia d'Oro will ship to New York for trainer Bobby Frankel, who has told Pimlico officials that his colt is likely to run in the Preakness. Trainer Ken McPeek said Harlan's Holiday came out of the Derby in good shape and is "possible" for the Preakness.

"I think physically he's ready," McPeek said. "He's capable of going, but no decision has been made yet."

One horse that will not be going to the Preakness is Cynthia Phipps' Saarland. Trainer Claude "Shug" McGaughey said the son of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled came out of the Kentucky Derby with a chipped bone in his left front ankle.

X-rays revealed the injury Sunday morning and the colt is scheduled to travel later in the day to Rood & Riddle equine clinic in Lexington, Ky., where he will undergo surgery to remove the chip. McGaughey said Saarland could return to racing by the fall.

Also scheduled to travel to the Lexington clinic on Sunday is Mary and Gary West's Buddha, the winner of the Wood Memorial (GI). Buddha was scratched from the Derby after he turned up lame in his left front leg on Thursday morning. An X-ray examination of the colt's leg and ankle on Saturday revealed no problems, but Buddha is scheduled to undergo a thorough bone scan upon his arrival at Rood & Riddle.

Several Kentucky Derby participants are scheduled to leave Churchill Downs over the next few days - and some have already departed. Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier's Johannesburg (8th) and Mrs. Magnier's Castle Gandolfo (12th) departed early Sunday on a journey home to trainer Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle training center in Ireland. California-based Easy Grades (13th), owned by Desperado Stables and trained by Ted West, also left Churchill Downs on Sunday.

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