Kentucky Derby 2019 Daily: War of Will fit at Fair Grounds
Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily, which will each day leading up to the May 4 race at Churchill Downs detail all the news and notes related to contenders in one convenient space.
Given the interruption to daily training and work patterns for Santa Anita Park’s top 3-year-olds, there’s reason to consider this year could be the right one for a major contender to prepare for the 2019 Kentucky Derby at Fair Grounds.
War of Will, made a 6-5 morning line favorite in next weekend’s Louisiana Derby (G2) field of 11, completed his final work toward the race on Friday morning over an unexpectedly sealed racetrack.
“The weather even surprised the track crew,” said David Carroll, assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “We were very happy with him so we’ll enter (the Louisiana Derby) and hopefully have a good week leading up to the race.”
Carroll, who formerly ran his own barn, has based all winter at Fair Grounds with War of Will, often commenting on the quality of the track’s condition when weather isn’t ideal. That’s in contrast to the current problems at Santa Anita, where the track has perhaps not handled above-average rain this season.
Carroll said Fair Grounds’ surface has “such a tremendous bottom on it.”
“Obviously you’d rather be on a fast track, but if it’s an off track we feel very comfortable with it,” he added. “This winter we’ve had a lot of rain so he’s trained on an off track.
“Having said that, he trained beautifully. I’m tickled to death with him. It was just a maintenance work and I think the track was playing a little fast with a sealed track but I was very impressed with him today.”
War of Will clocked a half mile in 47.60 seconds before galloping out 5/8 of a mile in 1:01.00, per Fair Grounds publicity.
Going into Saturday, he still held the points lead in the road to the Derby, though that’s before Game Winner and Improbable take their shots at the Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park. The War Front colt War of Will will then bid for a sweep of Fair Grounds’ preps following wins in January’s Lecomte (G3) and February’s Risen Star (G2).
“Our main concern his him, we just want to keep him happy and healthy,” Carroll said. “As long as we can do that, then it’s up to him after that. There are bigger races ahead but distance wise he shouldn’t have any issues moving forward.”
Funny Cide, second in the 2003 Louisiana Derby, is the most-recent runner from the race to win the Kentucky Derby. He used the Wood Memorial as a final prep. Grindstone (1996) and Black Gold (1924) are others to have run in the Louisiana Derby before winning at Churchill Downs.
More on the Louisiana Derby…
Our early Louisiana Derby analysis piece for the Grade 2, $1 million race — the first major Derby prep of the season offering points on a 100-40-20-10 scale — hones in on War of Will, Sueno and Spinoff as the top win contenders.
Certainly, there will be disagreements given Country House isn’t on that list. But feel free to state your own case.
There were no major surprises at the entry deadline, with Steve Asmussen-trained Bankit the only runner who came from off the radar to land in the field.
The Louisiana Derby caps a Pick 4 sequence next Saturday that includes a $500,000 guaranteed pool. Fair Grounds should hit that mark easily with the New Orleans Handicap (G2), Muniz Memorial (G2) and Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) preceding the feature in that order.
Three of the four fields attracted double-digit runners, with the Serengeti Empress-led Fair Grounds Oaks the exception at eight contenders.
In case you missed it…
Friday’s Derby Daily report featured handicapping from Oaklawn Park racing analyst Nancy Holthus, including her top selections for both divisions of the Rebel.