Kentucky Derby trail: War of Will prevails in Lecomte Stakes

Around the Mark Casse barn, they simply call him “Wow.” War of Will delivered a performance to match Saturday in winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes.

The son of War Front, whose pedigree screams of turf potential, secured a long-term future on the main track with a statement win on the 2019 Kentucky Derby trail.

Under jockey Tyler Gaffalione, War of Will took an outside trip but managed to stay clear of kickback while stalking dueling pace setters Malpais and Manny Wah. Through the turn, following an opening half mile in 49.22 seconds, War of Will showed why the public bet him down to 8-5 favoritism at Fair Grounds.

"He settled nicely, and when I asked him to run, he really turned it on," Gaffalione said. "...I was just worried about moving too soon. He was carrying me so well. I was just trying to wait as long as I could.

"Like I said, when I unleashed on him, he really turned it on."

The colt pulled even with the leaders, then went by in the stretch while blazing down the center of the track. War of Will's final time for a mile and 70 yards was 1:43.44, nearly two seconds faster than the fillies went one race before in the Silverbulletday Stakes.

Hog Creek Hustle ran second, four lengths back. Manny Wah was third and Wicked Indeed fourth in the field of 12. The Top 4 finishers earned Derby qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 scale.

"I have just the utmost respect for this horse," Casse said of the winner. "I think he has the potential to be a real superstar."

War of Will made his sixth start Saturday, and it took him five tries -- until owner Gary Barber advised a move to dirt, Casse said -- to break his maiden. The colt appeared in prestigious races such as Woodbine's Summer Stakes (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf before visiting the winner's circle Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs.

That day, he switched surfaces and won in the slop. War of Will's Lecomte score came on a fast track.

"Every time we'd work him, everybody was like, 'This is a good dirt horse,'" Casse said. "...His win at Churchill was so impressive. He ran like 10 one-hundredths of a second slower than they ran in the (Kentucky) Jockey Club, and Tyler geared him down with 100 yards to go.

"He's got such a tremendous cruising speed. You can see going down the backside. Everybody's running at a good speed, and Tyler's just kind of looking at them like, 'OK, when are you guys going to go?'"

Casse, who will ship horses to run just about anywhere, said War of Will is under consideration for the Feb. 16 Risen Star (G2) back at Fair Grounds.