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Classic Winner War of Will to Claiborne Upon Retirement

Claiborne Farm has purchased an interest in Classic winner War of Will (War Front–Visions of Clarity {Ire}, by Sadlers Wells), who will stand at the Paris, Kentucky farm upon the conclusion of his racing career. The winner of a trio of a trio of graded events at three, including the GI Preakness S., the Gary Barber-campaigned colt most recently scored in the GI Maker’s Mark Mile over the Keeneland turf July 10. War of Will’s 2021 stud fee will be announced following the Breeders’ Cup.

“War of Will has an outstanding pedigree, and combined with his race record, he should be very appealing to breeders,” said Claiborne’s Walker Hancock. “He’s a Classic winner on dirt at three and a Grade I winner on turf at four, which places him in rare company. 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.

“I am very proud to be standing War of Will at Claiborne alongside his famous father,” said 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.”

Runner up in the GI Summer S. at Woodbine at two, the bay kicked off his 3-year-old campaign with back-to-back wins in the GIII LeComte S. followed by the GII Risen Star S. Seventh in a roughly-run edition of the GI Kentucky Derby, he took the Preakness by 1 1/4 lengths and added a third-place effort in the GI Pennsylvania Derby later in the season.

“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 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.”

Looking ahead, Casse added, “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 Visions of Clarity, a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner and GI Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Spinning World. Visions of Clarity is also responsible for Group 1 winner Pathfork (Distorted Humor) and multiple stakes winner Tacticus (A.P. Indy). War of Will is one of sire War Front’s 21 Grade I/Group 1 winners.

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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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Laura’s Light Wins Del Mar’s San Clemente As Heavy Favorite

Gary Barber's favored Laura's Light made the lead turning for home on the turf course, then held off the late charges of two rivals to tally by three-quarters of a length in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.

Laura's LIght's rider was Abel Cedillo, who wound up capturing three races on the afternoon's 11-race card, including the G2 San Diego Handicap aboard Maximum Security.

Laura's Light, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Constitution, covered the mile on the greensward in 1:34.16 and paid $4.40, $3.00 and $2.60 as the 6/5 favorite in the field of 10 runners. She earned $90,000 for the victory and now sports a bankroll of $304,370.

Trained by Peter Miller, Laura's Light was winning for the fifth time in seven career starts. She was coming off a hard-fought victory in the Honeymoon Stakes on turf at Santa Anita on May 30 — her second G3 win this year.

Both of the Grade 2 races run Saturday are considered key preps for Grade 1 races later in the meet – the $500,000 TVG Pacific Classic in the case of Maximum Security and the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks for Laura's Light. Each of those races will be run at Del Mar on August 22 as part of a five-stakes program and both winning trainers today gave indications that their charges would be pointed in that direction.

Earlier on the card in the $65,000 Smiling Tiger Overnight Stakes, MyRacehorse.com and Slam Dunk Racing's Vertical Threat outran three foes to score by five and a quarter lengths under Heriberto Figueroa. The 3-year-old colt trained by Richard Baltas ran six furlongs in 1:10.47.

Racing resumes at Del Mar tomorrow with an 11-race card beginning at 2 p.m.

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Two Sixty Gives Casse-Barber Team Third Straight Selene Triumph

Two Sixty dashed to the lead out of the gates and never looked back in the $125,000 Selene Stakes (Grade 3) on Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

The victory marks the third straight in the Selene for the trainer-owner combination of Mark Casse and Gary Barber, and second in a row for jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, who also won last year's edition in rein to Power Gal. For Casse, it was his record-tying (Yonnie Starr) sixth Selene score.

One of three Casse trainees in the field of seven, Two Sixty set out on a front-end mission in the 1 1/16-mile main track stakes event for 3-year-old fillies, posting splits of :24.12, :48.81 and 1:13.36 en route to the three-quarter-length triumph. The final time was 1:45.01.

Saratoga Vision, the longest shot on the board at 84-1, slipped between horses and found a seam towards the rail to close for second-place honors just ahead of the favored Queen's Plate eligibles Owlette and Merveilleux.

“It was clear on paper that Owlette was going to be pace, but they took the blinkers off. So right off the hop, I wanted to get away and set myself at the front with conviction and that's what happened,” said Wilson. “As we eased into the backstretch, I took a little bit of a hold of her. I glanced between my legs and saw that I had a length or so of daylight that I could ease back and have her take a breather. She pricked her ears as we came around the three-quarter pole top of the backstretch and it was great. And then I just waited to hear them… waited to hear them… waited to hear them… waited to hear them… She dug hard, she ran fast and she held them off.”

Two Sixty returned $21.20 to win for the 9-1 upset.

“It's Mark Casse, Gary Barber, you can't go wrong,” said Wilson of picking up the winning mount. “Mark is a fantastic trainer and he puts these horses in races and they can win. I followed instructions. We went with the flow of that. She ran a bang of a race at Gulfstream before she went in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile [ninth]. She went to the lead, set some solid fractions and held them off in hand. She had to work a little harder today, but that's kind of the way it panned out for us.”

Bred in Florida by Shade Tree Thoroughbreds Inc., the Uncaptured–Jim's Lonesa filly entered the Selene off a fourth-place finish in the six-furlong Star Shoot Stakes during her Woodbine debut on June 13. The win was her second in five starts this year, having also captured the Gasparilla Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in January. Two Sixty now boasts a record of 4-1-1 from 11 starts lifetime and is closing in on the $500,000 mark in career earnings.

Casse stablemates Diamond Sparkles and American Tap finished fifth and seventh, respectively, with Livin in the Six sixth.

Live Thoroughbred racing continues, without spectators, on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack featuring the Grade 3 Seagram Cup. Post time for the first race is 1 p.m.

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