War of Will the best at Pimlico
Bettors willing to overlook War of Will’s troubled ninth in the Louisiana Derby, as well as his even more troubled seventh in Kentucky, must have felt a surge of excitement as posttime for the Preakness neared last Saturday.
They were about to get War of Will at a generous 6-1. Looking very much like the horse who had run off a pair of impressive graded wins over the winter, War of Will was clearly the best at Pimlico.
The patient, ground-saving trip engineered by jockey Tyler Gaffalione played a major role in the victory. When a hole wide enough to drive a van through opened up on the rail, War of Will had plenty left to take advantage, taking over the race in mid-stretch and cruising to a 1¼-length victory.
Everfast, a 25-1 longshot, nosed out Owendale (7-1) for second. Favored Improbable (5-2) finished a non-threatening sixth. Local hope Alwaysmining (6-1) found the jump to Grade 1 competition too steep, fading in the stretch and checking in 11th.
A similar performance in the Belmont would place War of Will squarely at the head of the 3-yearold division. With two weeks to go, the Belmont field is not looking very formidable. Tacitus, who was moved up to third with Maximum Security’s DQ in the Derby, looms as the chief threat. Other horses mentioned as likely starters include Master Fencer, Spinoff, as well as Sir Winston and Intrepid Heart, the two-three finishers in the Peter Pan Stakes. Game Winner and Tax reportedly are also being considered.
In other stakes on Saturday, Catholic Boy (7-5) made a successful 2019 debut with a professional half-length victory in the Dixie Stakes (G2) on the Pimlico turf. The 4-yearold More Than Ready colt, a Grade 1 winner last year on dirt (Travers) and turf (Belmont Derby), will reportedly return to dirt in his next start. The Suburban (July 6 at Belmont) and Whitney (August 3 at Saratoga) are under consideration.
Curlin shines at Pimlico
There were four graded races run at Pimlico last Friday. The first one, the Miss Preakness Stakes, was won by Covfefe, a daughter of Into Mischief. The other three were all won by sons and daughters of Curlin: the Pimlico Special (Tenfold), Black-Eyed Susan (Point of Honor) and DuPont Distaff (Mylady Curlin). A fourth Curlin horse. Cordmaker, finished third in the Pimlico Special. A fifth, Gladiator King, was beaten a head in Saturday’s Chick Lang Stakes, also at Pimlico.
Determining when (if ever) the last time offspring of the same stallion won three consecutive graded races on the same card at the same racetrack is beyond the research capabilities of this writer. In a sense, though, it isn’t all that surprising that Curlin runners performed well in the three Pimlico races. All three are run at nine furlongs or longer on dirt, which was Curlin’s area of expertise as a racehorse – and is now as a stallion..
The 15-year-old stallion has yet to sire a Derby winner, although he’s had at least one horse in the race every year but this one; last year his sons finished 2nd, 9th and 10th. Curlin has already produced classic winners in Palace Malice (2013 Belmont) and Exaggerator (2016 Preakness), as well as high-class twoturn horses Stellar Wind, Curalina, Keen Ice, Connect, Irish War Cry and Good Magic. A Kentucky Derby winner may come in time.