ELMONT, N.Y., June 8 (UPI) -- Ken McPeek was able to demonstrate to his former boss that a very bad mistake had been made.
When Sarava, a 70-1 long shot, became the stunning winner of the Belmont Stakes Saturday, McPeek had the biggest victory of his career. And it came just days after McPeek was dismissed as the trainer for Harlan's Holiday, the Kentucky Derby favorite who settled for seventh at Churchill Downs.
With a chance to gloat, McPeek instead took the high road.
"I found out on Tuesday that he was leaving our stable. I was surprised but I can't let that bother me," McPeek said. "I'm always looking ahead, moving forward. To think any more about it would have been a step backwards."
McPeek's career seemed to have taken that step backwards earlier this week when he was dismissed by Jack Wolf, the owner of Harlan's Holiday. After the disappointing Derby, Harlan's Holiday was just fourth in the Preakness and did not run in the Belmont.
But a week that started lousy ended with McPeek ending War Emblem's quest for a Triple Crown.
"This is a good win for Kenny," said Bob Baffert, the trainer for War Emblem. "He had the Kentucky Derby and I know what that is like with all the pressure."
Sarava was named for a greeting in Brazil that means "good luck." The horse had just that on Saturday, taking advantage of the slow start by War Emblem and joining the list of Triple Crown spoilers such as Victory Gallop and Touch Gold, who ended Baffert's first two Triple Crown quests.
The New Phoenix Stable ownership group decided to enter Sarava after his four-length victory in the Sir Barton Stakes on Preakness day.
The horse began his career on the turf in England and had two wins and three seconds in his five starts in the United States, all on dirt. But none was anywhere close to the prestige of the Belmont.
"I'm not totally surprised, but who wouldn't be pinching himself at 70-1?" McPeek said. "I thought he was very much overlooked."
Earlier this year, McPeek thought he had a Triple Crown contender in Repent, but the horse came up lame and was not part of the races.
"Losing Repent was a big blow. Horse racing is a game that you have to be very resilient to play," McPeek said. "To win with the horse 20 stalls down from Harlan's Holiday and Repent, that's something."
With War Emblem out of the picture, it was a two-horse race and Sarava, with Edgar Prado aboard, nipped Medaglia d'Oro at the wire for the biggest upset in Belmont Stakes history.
It was the first Belmont Stakes victory for Prado, who has competed in five of seven stakes races for McPeek and won five of them.
"As much as I wish we had a Triple Crown winner because it would mean a lot to the industry, I was in this race to win," Prado said.
So was McPeek, who noted that War Emblem had begun to "tail off" in recent workouts and appeared to be a beatable horse. The question was if Sarava could be the one. Gary Drake, part of the ownership group, felt that Prado and McPeek were the perfect combination.
"Kenny gave the instructions to Edgar, shake him up and get him in the race," Drake said. "He has a tendency to just sit back and wait to be pushed. In the past we've waited too long to push him."
