Fog of War Wins Battle for Summer Stakes

The $250,00 Summer Stakes (G1T) for 2-year-olds Sept. 16 featured a battle of the War Front  colts, as Peter Brant's Fog of War got rolling late in the Woodbine stretch and took over in the final furlong to score over War of Will.

Ridden by Javier Castellano, Fog of War settled off the pace in fourth early in the field of 12 juveniles. Looking as if he might stall coming off the turn, he hit his best stride when it mattered and was able to get past War of Will to complete the one-mile contest in a final time of 1:33.90 over firm turf. The winning margin was three-quarters of a length by the Chad Brown trainee.

Off as the even-money favorite, Castellano kept Fog of War tucked away at the rail as Wallace set early fractions of :23.36 and :46.20 through the first half-mile. War of Will tracked the pace in second and took over on the turn for home. Avie's Flatter, who broke last, made a move for the lead, but only got within 1 1/2 lengths before Nashtrick overtook him to get up for third.

"I put him behind the horses, covered up, and let him see the target all the way in the race," Castellano said. "I liked the way he split horses at the quarter pole. He's really a smart horse. When I asked him, he finished really well. These are the kind of horses you want to ride. These kinds of horses have lot of potential.

"I like the way he did it. He's a very talented horse, and I think the key was I tried to teach him something for the future—for the next race. It's the kind of horse that you don't want to be on the front with everybody chasing. You want to teach him something and let him win the race and go forward. I think he's got a lot of potential and he's coming around very well."

Fog of War won his only previous start—a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race at Saratoga Race Course—by a neck on good turf.

Bred by Orpendale, Chelston, and Wynatt, Fog of War is out of the group 1-placed Say and is a full brother to British stakes winner Naval Intelligence.

"Chad Brown and I looked at this horse, and we just liked the way he was made," Brant said. "He was a choice of ours, and he's really come through. He's a wonderful horse. Chad and his whole team have done a great job with this horse.

"The fact that he's bred to go longer, and won at (5 1/2 furlongs) like that, and showed that burst of speed—that was very encouraging. But you never know until you get farther down the road like here and run in a (grade) 1. ... You always hope, and this is a game of great hopes, and that's what keeps us all in."

Jockey Joel Rosario was also happy with the performance from War of Will, who is a half brother to Irish group 1 winner Pathfork.

"It was a good trip. He broke well, and it looked like (Wallace) wanted to take the lead, so I just traveled with him for a little bit," Rosario said. "He came home very nice. He responded very well, but the favorite came with a strong run on the outside. It was a very good performance. He ran well, but the other horse had talent and finished very fast."