War of Will stays hot at Fair Grounds
With no Derby preps on last weekend’s schedule, racing fans have had more time to appreciate War of Will’s eye- catching performance a week ago Saturday in the Risen Star Stakes (G2). The son of War Front, sent off as the even-money favorite, managed to get a good stalking position despite breaking from the 13 hole. Given more rein on the turn, War of Will easily made the front, coasting through the stretch for a 2¼-length victory.
War of Will has won all three starts since being switched to dirt after winning one of four on turf as a 2-year- old. His Risen Star triumph earned him a spot near the top of many Derby lists. The Mark Casse-conditioned colt will try for a sweep of Fair Grounds’ three preps – following the Risen Star and the Lecomte (G3) – when he goes in the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2) on March 23.
As visually impressive as War of Will’s Risen Star was, the 13 beaten horses included only a sin-
gle stakes winner – Henley’s Joy, who won a pair of ungraded events at two. Also worth mentioning is that War Front is overwhelmingly a sire of turf runners, most of them miler types. War of Will is his first graded winner on dirt in five years. War Front’s only Kentucky Derby starter was Soldat, the eleventh-place finisher in 2011.
Of course, there are plenty of examples of unlikely stallions siring winners of the Kentucky Derby. The most recent example was the unheralded turf miler Lucky Pulpit, who sired 2014 Derby winner California Chrome. During the previous decade, the classy sprinters Distorted Humor and Elusive Quality produced back-toback Derby winners Funny Cide (2003) and Smarty Jones (2004), respectively.
Fountain of Youth
On Saturday the Derby
focus shifts to Gulfstream Park, where eleven 3-yearolds are slated to go in the $400k Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2). Among the leading contenders are two colts who showed promise at two and will be making their 2019 debut. Signalman closed out 2018 with a victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) after hitting the board in a pair of Grade 1s, the Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Vekoma won both of his 2-year-old starts, which included the Nashua Stakes (G2).
Conspicuous by his absence from the Fountain of Youth will be Maximus Mischief, who finished third as the heavy favorite in the Holy Bull Stakes four weeks ago. The son of Into Mischief was discovered to have sustained a soft-tissue injury after a workout on Feb 24 and has been declared off the Triple Crown trail.
Sad news from California last weekend with the death of Battle of Midway.
The 5-year- old horse was euthanized Saturday after suffering a catastrophic injury during a workout at Santa Anita. Generally considered a notch or two below the best of his division, Battle of Midway carved out a highly successful career, winning four graded races – including the 2017 BC Dirt Mile (G1) – earning over $1.5 million and hitting the board in 14 of 16 starts. In his final race, he out-finished McKinzie in the San Pasqual Handicap (G2), a victory that had his connections considering the Dubai World Cup as a next start.
It has been a rough winter at Santa Anita, which received nearly a foot of rain during February alone. Nineteen horses have died as a result of racing and training incidents since Opening Day on Dec. 26. The main track was closed for training on Tuesday and Wednesday. Following testing by experts from the University of Kentucky, the track was declared safe for racing and training on Thursday.