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Preakness Winner War Of Will To Stand At Claiborne Farm Upon Retirement

Claiborne Farm has purchased an interest in War of Will, a dual surface Grade 1 winner and American classic champion.

The son of Claiborne's emerging sire of sires War Front scored his most recent victory in the July 10 Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland, going a mile on the grass. War of Will will stand at the Paris, Ky., farm upon his retirement from racing, Claiborne announced July 30.

“War of Will has an outstanding pedigree, and combined with his race record, he should be very appealing to breeders. He's a classic winner on dirt at three and a Grade 1 winner on turf at four, which places him in rare company,” said Claiborne's Walker Hancock. “War Front is one of the most successful sires of his generation and there is no doubt he is becoming a sire of sires. We believe War of Will has the capability to follow his father's success.”

To date, 4-year-old War of Will has earnings of over $1,796,000 and four graded stakes wins for trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber.

“I am very proud to be standing War of Will at Claiborne alongside his famous father,” said Gary Barber. “War of Will has a special place in my heart having brought so much joy to me and my family. He is a once in a lifetime horse.”

In just his second career start, War of Will was introduced to Grade 1 level company, running a determined second in the Summer Stakes (G1) at Woodbine.

Coming off a maiden victory to end his 2-year-old campaign, War of Will kicked off his 3-year-old campaign brilliantly, with decisive back-to-back graded stakes victories going over a mile on dirt. With Tyler Gaffalione in the irons, the son of War Front easily bested subsequent Grade 1 winner Hog Creek Hustle and Group 2 winner Plus Que Parfait to take the G3 LeComte Stakes by open lengths. One month later, eventual Kentucky Derby winner Country House, and multiple graded stakes winners Owendale and Mr. Money proved to be no match for War of Will in the G2 Risen Star Stakes.

Following a contentious Kentucky Derby, War of Will became trainer Mark Casse's first classic winner with a triumphant victory in the Preakness Stakes.

In this year's Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland on July 10, War of Will moved into the prestigious group of dual surface Grade 1 winners. Going one mile on the firm turf, the now 4-year-old War of Will fended off Group 1 winner Without Parole and two-time Grade 1 winner Raging Bull.

“I've been fortunate enough in my career to be around a lot of good horses, but I have to put War of Will right there at the top. He has a special place in my heart,” said trainer Mark Casse. “He's a class act. There's a reason we call him 'WOW.' It's not just because of his initials. Everything he does is a 'WOW.' The way he looks. The way he trains, and his pedigree. I'm excited to see him go to Claiborne and follow in his father's footsteps. Our plan is to point towards the Woodbine Mile next, and then hopefully the Breeders' Cup.”

Bred in Kentucky by Flaxman Holdings, War of Will is out of the stakes-winning Sadler's Wells mare Visions of Clarity, who is a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner and Breeders' Cup Mile winner Spinning World. Visions of Clarity also produced Grade 1 winner Pathfork and multiple stakes winner Tacticus.

War of Will is just one of sire War Front's 21 Grade 1 winners. An international super sire on all fronts, War Front (Danzig – Starry Dreamer) has seven million-dollar earners and is quickly emerging as a sire of sires.

His sons include Grade 1 winner Declaration of War, who sired two-time graded stakes winner Silver Prospector and three-time graded stakes winner Decorated Invader; five-time graded stakes winner The Factor, the number-one fifth-crop sire of multiple Grade 1 winners, plus recent Grade 2 winner Factor This; Summer Front, a four-time graded stakes winner himself, sired recent Grade 2 winner Speaktomeofsummer and Grade 2-winning Kentucky Derby hopeful Ete Indien; and three-time Grade 1-winning champion Air Force Blue, who's first crop are now 2-year-olds, sired recent debut winner Beauty Queen.

War of Will's 2021 stud fee will be announced following the Breeders' Cup.

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Bidding Back in the Bluegrass with Fasig-Tipton’s Horses of Racing Age Sale Monday

The Fasig-Tipton July Horses of Racing Age Sale, which has steadily built momentum through its first seven years, comes smack up against the swirling uncertainty of a global pandemic when it returns for its eighth renewal at the company’s Newtown Paddocks Monday afternoon. The catalogue for the one-session auction, bolstered by the late addition of recent stakes winners, includes 182 offerings. Bidding begins at 4 p.m.

Consignors seemed eager to get back to business ahead of the auction, but were cautious about expectations.

“This sale is getting more popular every year and I think you are seeing some better horses sold in it, but it’s hard to say what this year will bring,” admitted Claiborne Farm’s Walker Hancock. “I don’t know who will be able to show up, but I know Fasig is going to provide the buyers with all the opportunities they can, whether it’s online bidding or phone bidding. We are doing videos for all of our horses, so even if you can’t make it to the sales grounds, hopefully you’ll be able to view them online and we’ll be able to provide any information the buyers may be looking for if they can’t be here in person.”

Fasig-Tipton debuted its online bidding platform during the recent Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and will again offer out-of-town buyers the chance to bid online Monday. Hancock agreed the horses of racing age sales were a natural fit for on-line shopping.

“Yearlings, weanlings and mares are a little different,” he said. “With horses of racing age, you can just go and watch the races. As long as they vet, which you can get your vet to look at those online, you’re buying off results and have more information than when you are just looking for potential.”

The Horses of Racing Age sale has, since its inception, been conducted in tandem with Fasig-Tipton’s July Yearling Sale. With the yearling auction cancelled this year and travel restrictions still in place in many locales, activity at the sales barns will be predictably down.

While there may be fewer people at the barns, that won’t necessarily be a factor in the sale’s final results, according to Mark Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency.

“With these racehorses, it’s easier to do your due diligence without physically being here,” Taylor said. “You can have the horse vetted, you can look at their PPs, you can watch the videos of their races and you can make a buying decision very easily and you don’t have to physically be here. So I think the traffic is going to be way down from a typical year, but I think at the end of the day, people are going to be here to buy racehorses.”

Last year’s July sale was topped by Jalen Journey (With Distinction), who sold for $510,000 and only weeks later finished third in the GI Bing Crosby S. That sort of ready-to-run offering is what appeals to many shoppers at the horses of racing age sale, according to Gainesway’s Michael Hernon.

“I think we are operating in an uncertain time obviously, but people want the ready-made article,” Hernon said. “They don’t want to wait. And the racehorse sale provides a lot of opportunity for immediate results. Horses are ready to run who have established form and can run in the new buyer’s colors in a matter of weeks. There is strong demand for current racehorses who can proceed to their next race without delay.”

The Black Album (Fr) (Wooten Bassett {GB}), consigned by Bluewater Sales, was added to the catalogue following his win in the July 8 Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial S. While, Liam’s Pride (Liam’s Map) was the final horse added to Monday’s auction following his win in Friday’s Gold Fever S. at Belmont Park. He will be consigned by Elite Sales.

With racing virtually shut down for months this spring and opportunities still limited, the demand for horses will likely be down, according to Elite’s Brad Weisbord.

“I think it’s going to be a very tough year,” Weisbord said. “There are not as many racetracks that are open, so you have more horses in a smaller spot. You have owners who were hemorrhaging all through the COVID crisis with no racing, so they probably have too many horses on their hands. I think it’s going to be a very hard year to attract a huge buying pool.

He continued, “We have seen decreases across the board in the 2-year-old sales, somewhere in the 20-35% range, and I think by the time scratches hit and RNAs hit, I think this sale is going to be down, especially on average. It’s a very tough environment to recruit a horse, it’s a very tough environment to get a buyer excited about a horse. And I expect us to suffer through it for 2020. It’s a bad year for virtually everybody unless you are selling cleaning supplies. But we’ll get through it.”

A total of 95 horses sold at last year’s July sale for a gross of $6,548,500. The average was $68,932 and the median was $45,000.

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First Winner For Claiborne Farm’s Runhappy Comes At Indiana Grand

Runhappy, the most heavily-promoted stallion in America, sired his first winner as the 2-year-old Libertyrun rolled to a 6 1/4-length victory in Wednesday's fourth race at Indiana Grand Racing and Casino.

James McIngvale — the Houston furniture magnate and philanthropist known as Mattress Mack — has invested mightily to advertise Runhappy, his 2015 champion sprinter who is a stallion at famed Claiborne Farm. As it turns out, McIngvale got a little piece of his investment back as the owner and breeder of Libertyrun.

“That's the first Runhappy winner, and in Mack's silks as a matter of fact,” said Kelly Wohlers, who serves as assistant to trainer Laura Wohlers, McIngvale's sister in law. The Wohlers oversee McIngvale's racing operation and were very involved in training Runhappy. “So, we're very proud of him. Very happy for Mack.”

Libertyrun — carrying McIngvale's blue, white and red silks to victory four days after Independence Day — was exceedingly professional in his racing debut, breaking from post 12 to press the early pace from the outside and then cruising away in the stretch.

“He's not a very big horse, but he is very professional,” said jockey Miguel Mena. “He came out of the gate great. When we got to the stretch, he had his ears pricked and I hit him once and he took off running. I hit him one more time and he continued on again. I think he is a very nice horse.”

There have been four other 2-year-olds to race so far from Runhappy's first crop, which has 69 named foals.

McIngvale is known for his Texas-sized promotions and charitable works. For instance, he opened up his Gallery Furniture showrooms as shelters in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey. He also received worldwide publicity with his “Win It All” promotion where customers who had purchased mattresses or bases totaling at least $3,000 would get their money back if the Houston Astros won baseball's World Series. Those Gallery Furniture consumers cashed in on the Astros' 2017 championship and lost in seven games last year. (Mattress Mack made headlines there by wagering millions through sports books to hedge his bet.)

McIngvale is every bit as enthusiastic in promoting Runhappy by sponsoring stakes and race meets around the country. There also is a $100,000 bonus if a horse sired by Runhappy wins an open maiden race at Belmont Park, Saratoga, Del Mar or Kentucky Downs this summer.

Asked how much his boss has put into promoting Runhappy, Kelly Wohlers said, “Tons. I'm very emotional right now. It's absolutely wonderful.

“He loves to train,” he said of Libertyrun. “He's a very nice athlete. He's got Runhappy's mind, but he's got a little more pep in his step. Runhappy had pep in his step when he got to the paddock. But this horse is all the time on go. He loves what he does.”

Libertyrun, who was born in Louisiana, likely will be pointed to a stakes for Louisiana-bred 2-year-olds, Kelly Wohlers said, though he didn't rule out Ellis Park's $100,000 Runhappy Juvenile on Aug. 9.

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At Almost 20 Years Old, Exploding Star Returns Home

As a yearling, Exploding Star (Exploit) showed all the early potential to become a successful racehorse. Her dam Star Minister (Deputy Minister) won the 1992 GII Cotillion H. at Philadelphia Park and claimed six additional stakes races over her three-year career. Her half-brother, Concerned Minister (Concern), also won several black-type races.

Exploding Star was purchased as a yearling at the 2002 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale by the late F. Eugene Dixon Jr. for $450,000.

After three career starts where she ran in the money twice, Exploding Star retired under the same ownership, and began her broodmare career at Claiborne Farm. She spent nine years at Claiborne, and was then sold in 2014 at the Keeneland November Sale for $18,000.

Six years later, Claiborne found out that this mare, who had once called their farm home, had ended up in the wrong hands and was in a kill pen in Texas. They immediately sprang into action.

Claiborne’s Client Relations and Sales Manager Jill Gordon relayed the story.

“Our assistant broodmare manager Mary Ormsby was made aware that Exploding Star was in a kill pen,” she said. “She was instrumental in organizing and coordinating Exploding Star’s return back to the farm.”

After completing a period of quarantine in Texas, Exploding Star returned to Claiborne Farm this month.

“Although thin, she returned to the farm in good health,” Gordon said. “She is doing well and is putting weight on daily here at the farm.”

Exploding Star will live out the rest of her days in retirement at Claiborne, the farm where she has spent more of her life than any other one place, sharing bluegrass pasture with fellow broodmare retirees and, as Gordon said, “being spoiled by the farm’s staff.”

“At Claiborne, we strongly believe that if you take care of the horse, the horse will take care of you,” Gordon said. “We are dedicated to the horses that we breed and raise, and this mare had strong ties to the farm through the late Mr. Dixon. It made sense for us to jump into action, just as we believe the majority of other operations would have, had they been in our position.”

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