War Emblem was bred by Charles Nuckols Jr. & Sons in Kentucky.[1] His sire was Our Emblem, a stakes placed son of leading sire Mr. Prospector and the undefeated mare Personal Ensign. War Emblem's dam was Sweetest Lady by Lord At War.[2] Often described as nearly black,[3] he was registered as dark bay or brown colt with a white star. In the 2000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, he failed to meet his reserve of $20,000 so raced under the colors of Russell Reineman, who had owned the colt's dam. Initially, he was trained by Frank Springer.[4]
Described as narcissistic, War Emblem was a temperamental horse who did not like people nor other horses:[5] Bob Baffert nicknamed the colt 'Hannibal Lecter' for his habit of biting.[4] He had a history of bone chips in his knees and ankles, which discouraged several potential buyers.[6] He liked to race at the front of the field, but sometimes compromised his own chances by acting up in the starting gate.[7]
Racing career
As a two-year-old, War Emblem won his first start, but then finished seventh when entered in the Manila Stakes. He rebounded with a win in an allowance race to finish 2001 with a record of two wins from three starts.[1]
In the 2002 Preakness Stakes, War Emblem rated just behind the leaders who set a fast pace, went to the lead on the far turn and held off a late rally by Magic Weisner.[13] With a Triple Crown at stake, the Belmont Stakes on June 8 attracted the biggest crowd in the track's history with 103,222 spectators.[14] War Emblem stumbled and nearly fell to his knees coming out of the gate, then bumped into another horse, losing several lengths in the process. He then struggled with Espinoza who tried to rate the colt down the backstretch. War Emblem surged to the lead in the final turn before fading at the top of the stretch: The winner was 70-1 long-shot Sarava. It was the third time Baffert had lost the Belmont with a Triple Crown at stake: He had previously lost with Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998.[15] Baffert later said, "He was so one-dimensional and such an irritable horse as it was, as soon as he was behind horses, I had to sit there for 2½ minutes waiting for the race to be over."[16]
War Emblem returned to the track on August 4 as the favorite in the Haskell Invitational Handicap and won easily by 3+1⁄2 lengths. Baffert said, "You forget how good this horse is. From now on we're just going to let him run the way he wants. If he were one of those wild horses in the herd, he'd be the top dog. Like 'The Black Stallion', you don't want to break that spirit."[17] He became the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby and Haskell.[18]
War Emblem then traveled to California for the Pacific Classic on August 25 at Del Mar against older horses. He broke poorly but quickly settled into second place and seemed to be running well. However, he tired coming into the stretch and finished sixth.[7] In his final start at Arlington Park on October 26, he finished eighth in the Breeders' Cup Classic. War Emblem finished his career with seven wins from 13 starts and earnings of $3,491,000. In his six losses, he finished no better than fifth.[1] He received the Eclipse Award for champion three-year-old colt of 2002 and was a distant runner-up to Azeri in the Horse of the Year voting.[19]
Expected to follow in the footsteps of Shadai's great sires Northern Taste and Sunday Silence, War Emblem did not fulfill those expectations in the breeding shed. "We know he is fertile, but he has no interest in mares", said Dr. Nubuo Tsunoda, the farm's director.[5] For his first year at stud in 2003, only four foals were produced in 2004. His second year was more successful, resulting in nineteen colts and fifteen fillies born in 2005. However, his third crop born in 2006 consisted of only four colts and one filly. In the next two years, War Emblem rejected nearly every mare presented to him so no foals were produced in 2007 and 2008.[20] On June 8, 2008, War Emblem was evaluated by a stallion behavior team from the University of Pennsylvania. They suggested that he should be separated from other stallions to help improve his breeding behavior. The measures seemed to help War Emblem in the 2009 breeding season, with a career record of 43 foals born in 2010.[21] However, War Emblem reverted to his old habits in 2010, only covering five of 300 mares presented to him in the season.[22] In 2012, he covered only three mares, none of whom became pregnant. In total, he sired only 106 registered foals between 2004 and 2011.[23]
Although War Emblem only sired a total of 119 foals, his progeny proved quite successful on a percentage basis, with 80 winners from 111 starters and combined progeny earnings of $35,300,307. His last foal was born in 2012.[24] He was represented by his first career stakes winner in 2008 when Shonan Alba (Xianlang (IRE), by Great Commotion) won the Kyodo News Service Hai, an 1,800 meter listed race on Tokyo Race Course's turf course. Nearly a month later, the filly Air Pascale (Raffica, by Sunday Silence) scored in the listed Tulip Sho at Hashin Race Course. On March 22, another filly, Black Emblem (Vin de Noir, by Hector Protector), became War Emblem's first classic winner with an odds-on victory in the Shuka Sho, the final leg of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown. Black Emblem later became dam of two stakes winners, Bright Emblem and Testament.[25] War Emblem's most successful offspring was Robe Tissage, who was the champion two-year-old filly in Japan in 2012. He also sired Group 3 winners King's Emblem and War Tactics, and stakes winners Civil War, Danon Programmer, and Clan Emblem.[24]
His son, Civil War, was sent to stud. Due to initial fears he would exhibit his sire's habits in the breeding shed, a special "conception confirmation"-clause was issued. At first year, Civil War covered 62 mares.[26]
Retirement and death
In Fall of 2015,War Emblem was pensioned from stallion duty and repatriated to the United States, where he was sent to live at Old Friends Equine Retirement in Georgetown, Kentucky.[27] Although he was not going to be used at stud, USDA regulations required that all stallions imported to the U.S. be tested for contagious equine metritis via test-breeding two mares. After a month in quarantine at the Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, War Emblem declined breeding with any mares presented to him, and in order to keep him in the United States, the only remaining option was to geld him. The operation was a success with a full recovery by War Emblem at the age of 17 in 2016.[24] War Emblem was found dead in his paddock at Old Friends Equine on March 11, 2020, at the age of 21.[28] The cause of death was later found to be a ruptured small intestine.[29]
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