Justin Casse, Mark's brother, traveled the globe for War of Will
For the past seven years, longtime bloodstock agent Justin Casse has traveled nearly every corner of the globe in search of quality Thoroughbreds to import to North America. Little did he know that a journey last May to Deauville, France, for the Arqana Breeze Up Sale would yield a potential Triple Crown contender.
Nine months later, his nearly $300,000 purchase for owner Gary Barber is in a good position for a chance to smell the roses on the First Saturday in May as War of Will appears to be the one to beat in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes.
“I always call Gary when I find something that I like,” said Justin Casse, whose older brother, Mark, trains War of Will. “I didn’t really run it by Mark because he trusts me so I called Gary because one of the first horses I bought for him was Jack Milton, who also was by War Front. I bought him two other stakes horses by War Front so he knew that the sire worked.
"I called him only 30 minutes before he went through the ring. Told him he’d be reasonably priced. He breezed well at the sale, he was a good mover, had a good turn of foot and speed for his size. The rest is history. Gary got him.”
Perhaps the most intriguing trait of the sophomore son of War Front is the fact that he boasts such a prestigious turf pedigree, yet excels on the main track. War of Will is out of the Sadler’s Wells broodmare Visions of Clarity, who is a half-sister to 1997 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Spinning World. Visions of Clarity also produced 2010 Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes victor Pathfork. Other members of his family include North American Grade 1 turf winners Good Journey and Denon.
Casse recalls eyeing War of Will for the first time at the sale, saying that there wasn’t anything about his presence that suggested he would favor one surface over the other.
“He didn’t look like a dirt horse but he didn’t strike you as one that’s all turf either,” Casse said. “He was just a real good looking horse, but I didn’t really classify him as one or the other. In pedigree he’s instantly classified as turf because of who a lot of his relatives are, but if you look deeper into his pedigree he’s related to horses like (two-time dirt stakes winner) Tacticus and (multiple Grade 1 winner on dirt) Aldebaran.”
When the elder Casse saw War of Will breeze for the first time on the main track, he came away impressed. But the heavy turf pedigree naturally swayed him in the direction of running the horse on grass in his first four starts.
Although War of Will did not win any of the four races, he still made good showings, including a close second in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine. It was not until late November when War of Will finally ran on dirt, breaking his maiden by five lengths before another impressive victory in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes by four lengths last month.
As it turns out, the main track is War of Will’s preference.
“It looks that way,” Justin Casse said. “The horse that beat him in the Summer is debatably the best now 3-year-old turf male, Fog of War. To run second to him in only his second start in a Grade 1 spoke volumes for him. Obviously everyone was buzzing about how he worked on the dirt.
“With horses that I buy I feel like I own a piece of them because I get really excited and get really into it,” Casse continued. “I feel like they’re my own to a certain extent and to be there with my brother, family and girlfriend would be special too. Trying to take it one step at a time and appreciate having such a nice horse. It’s hard to not get caught up thinking about the Derby and it’s fun to daydream. There are too many things that can happen between today and tomorrow.”