War Emblem
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| War Emblem | ||
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| Sire: | Our Emblem | |
| Grandsire: | Mr. Prospector | |
| Dam: | Sweetest Lady | |
| Damsire: | Lord at War | |
| Sex: | Stallion | |
| Foaled: | 1999 | |
| Country: | USA | |
| Colour: | Dark Brown | |
| Breeder: | Charles Nuckols Jr. & Sons | |
| Owner: | The Thoroughbred Corp. | |
| Trainer: | Bob Baffert | |
| Record: | 13: 7-0-0 | |
| Earnings: | $3,491,000 | |
| Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards | ||
| Major Racing Wins | ||
| Illinois Derby (2002) Kentucky Derby (2002) Preakness Stakes (2002) Haskell Invitational Handicap (2002) |
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| Racing Awards | ||
| U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1995) | ||
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Infobox last updated on: October 3, 2006. |
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War Emblem was the winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2002. This Thoroughbred's time was 2:01.13 around the 1 1/4 mile track. Victor Espinoza was his jockey for the Derby, never having seen the horse until the morning of the race. And War Emblem, who went off at 21-to-1 odds, gave trainer Bob Baffert his third Derby winner in 12 tries. War Emblem beat the likes of Medaglia d'Oro (winner of the Travers Stakes, Jim Dandy Stakes, and Whitney Handicap among others), Perfect Drift (winner of the Stephen Foster, the Indiana Handicap, and the Washington Park Handicap twice, among others), and Harlan's Holiday (winner of the Florida Derby, the Pennsylvania Derby, and the Donn Handicap among others.
War Emblem's sire was Our Emblem, and his dam was Sweetest Lady. He also won the Preakness Stakes, the Haskell Invitational Handicap and had prepped for the Derby with a win at the Illinois Derby.
The Kentucky-bred War Emblem, dark brown with a stark white demarkation between his eyes, gave a valiant effort toward the Triple Crown that year. He stumbled and fell to his knees out of the gate at the Belmont Stakes. He hustled up and, from last place, actually surged briefly into the lead in the final turn before fading quickly at the top of the stretch. War Emblem's early stumble put him in too deep of a hole to be able to run his normal pace, and he ran out of gas trying to make up that lost ground.
The Thoroughbred was the focus of some mild controversy that year, as he was owned by Prince Ahmed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which put a prominent Middle Easterner into the headlines in the sport's first marquee event since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Bin Salman, a member of the Saudi royal family, did assuage some hard feelings by declaring, "This has always been my dream. I love you guys in America."
Ahmed bin Salman bought War Emblem for $1 million from the Russell Reineman Stable following the horse's April 6 win in the Illinois Derby, just three weeks before the Kentucky Derby.
Sent to Japan, today he stands at stud at Shadai Stallion Station where Sunday Silence stood with great success until his death in 2002. War Emblem has not been as successful, refusing to cover most mares, but he has had a few foals.
