Sentence:  Richard M. Forbes 's Paget , which had what seemed to <WSD>be</WSD> a substantial lead in the early stages , tired rapidly nearing the wire and was able to save place money only a head in front of Glen T. Hallowell 's Milties Miss . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)