War of Will's adding blinkers for the Breeders’ Cup Classic
Trainer Mark Casse was watching the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) when his wife mentioned War of Will appearing to lose focus on his way to a third-place finish. Agreeable, Casse said “absolutely.”
In works since then, War of Will has been outfitted with blinkers, which he’ll also wear when competing in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Casse’s on-site crew at Santa Anita Park reported Friday that the son of War Front finished up his final half-mile breeze in 47 2/5 seconds.
“I didn’t want him to be too keen, but he really has reacted well to them,” Casse said of the equipment, “so we’ve had them on for some time. He actually focuses but doesn’t get too rank.
“I thought when he worked last week at Santa Anita, he got his head a little higher than I’d like. Today, I think he went about as good as I’ve ever seen him go.”
Joe Talamo breezed the Gary Barber runner on Friday, after which he reported to Casse that War of Will “didn’t take a deep breath.”
“When he’s good — when he gets over a racetrack — that’s the way he is,” Casse said. “I’ve alluded a few times, I know when he doesn’t like things, I can tell by how he is after a race when he doesn’t care for a racetrack because he’s a little overly exhausted.”
This was the second local work for War of Will, who also breezed five furlongs on Oct. 16 in 59.40 with blinkers on.
Analyzing Friday’s breeze on TVG’s works show, former trainer Simon Bray noted the added equipment as War of Will drilled through the stretch: “You can see the rider has to do nothing — he just has to sit there and ration out the speed rather than ask him to finish up.”
War of Will figures to be something of a price in the $6 million Classic, which on the other hand sizes up as a wide-open race led by McKinzie, a last-out beaten favorite.