War of Will Impresses in Bullet Work for Kentucky Derby

The horse they call "Wow" did not fail to impress April 27 in his final work before the May 4 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Striding out beneath the Twin Spires, Gary Barber's War of Will earned the bullet when he was clocked through four furlongs in a swift :47 3/5 at Churchill Downs, fastest of 78 moves at the distance on the day. But it was the way he did it that had trainer Mark Casse feeling justified in his long-standing admiration for the War Front  colt.

"You guys got to see what I've been seeing for a long time this morning, and that's what excites me about him. It always has," Casse said Saturday morning after War of Will returned from training. "If you weren't impressed with him this morning, I don't know what we're supposed to do. I've been seeing this for a long time, and that's why the hype."

Taking to the track at 7:30 a.m. with regular rider Tyler Gaffalione in the irons, the winner of the Lecomte Stakes (G3) and Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) honed in on workmate Starinthemaking, inhaled that one with fluid strides, and strode well clear through a powerful gallop out. Churchill Downs clockers caught the colt in early splits of :12, :24, and :36 1/5, then timed his gallop out to five furlongs in 1:00 flat and to six furlongs in 1:13 3/5. 

"He loves it here, and he's on top of his game," Casse said. "Tyler said he couldn't pull him up, said he was going down the backside a-blazing."

"He did everything right, really," Gaffalione added. "I couldn't have asked for anything better than that. Around the turn, I just kept him behind, and when we tipped out into the stretch, I let him come off cover and he just took me. He's full of himself and he's really happy with himself, so I expect a big effort out of him."

To see War of Will training in peak form one week out from the first Saturday in May has Casse thanking his lucky stars after the colt's disappointing ninth in the March 23 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2). War of Will strained his patellar ligament when he stumbled early in that race but miraculously escaped a more serious injury that could have knocked him off the Road to the Kentucky Derby altogether.

"It wasn't so much of an injury because he was fine the next day, but he stumbled very hard behind and it just took him out of his rhythm, took him out of his game," Casse said. "Had the mishap not happened in the Louisiana Derby, we'd be one of the favorites. 

"I think he's starting to get some people's attention, though. It would be hard to watch him train and not think that he's a pretty good horse."

Saturday's work was the fourth for War of Will since the Louisiana Derby and his third consecutive bullet. His first three works were at Keeneland, where he came back April 6 with an easy four furlongs in :48 4/5, breezed five furlongs in :59 flat from the gate April 13, and worked another five furlongs in 1:00 1/5 April 19.

"His past few works have been getting better each time," Gaffalione said. "He especially loves the company. He likes a target to run at."

"We said all along, with the six weeks (between the Louisiana Derby and Kentucky Derby), we were going to have to train him a little harder," Casse said. "But we trained him even harder because we feel like he didn't get as much out of the Louisiana Derby. And I also came back and breezed him out of the gate. I normally would not have done that. I kind of took that from my buddy Bob (Baffert). He likes to do that, and I was kidding. I said, 'We're going to Bob Baffert him,' and we did. We gave him a really strong work out of the gate, and it was good. He's ready."

War of Will was bred in Kentucky by Flaxman Holdings out of the stakes-winning Sadler's Wells mare Visions of Clarity, a half sister to multiple group 1 winner Spinning World, a son of Nureyev who took the 1997 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T). Justin Casse bought the colt for $298,550 from Oak Tree Farm's consignment to the Arqana May 2-Year-Old Breeze-Up Sale last year. After running third in maiden company Aug. 24 at Woodbine, he performed well in top company on the lawn with a second in the Sept. 16 Summer Stakes (G1T) at the Toronto track, a fourth in the Oct. 7 Dixiana Bourbon Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland, and a fifth in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Churchill. But it wasn't until the move to dirt that he broke his maiden Nov. 24 at Churchill, then collected his first stakes score in the Jan. 19 Lecomte at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

Both Mark Casse and Gaffalione are in pursuit of their first Kentucky Derby win. This will be the second Kentucky Derby mount for Gaffalione, who finished 14th in 2017 aboard Patch. Casse sends out his seventh Derby starter, with his best finish so far a fourth-place effort from Classic Empire in 2017. 

"Another obstacle down," Casse said of his charge's completed work. "Now, hopefully, we get a good post. We won't be taking back; we're going to be up fairly close to the pace. And if they're going to beat us, they're going to have to outrun us, because we're going to be out running."

Casse also worked Debby Oxley's Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) contender Chocolate Kisses Saturday morning, sending the Candy Ride  filly through four furlongs in :48. Chocolate Kisses comes off a sixth in the April 6 Central Bank Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland after punching her Kentucky Oaks ticket with a win in the March 9 Honeybee Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park.

"At Keeneland, the track was playing so biased that I asked Tyler to keep her close, and I think it ended up hurting her," Casse said. "So we're going to go back to the back of the bus and hope the pace is fast, which it looks like it should be, and come running. The first part will be easy. The second part, we'll see."