War of Will

Graded stakes winner Will Then gave trainer Jonathan Thomas his 300th career victory when she charged home an authoritative victress of the China Doll Stakes Sunday at Santa Anita. The even-money favorite settled into second as Amorita bound out to the early lead and was clear through fractions of :23.67 and :48.14. Will Then inched up closer to the pacesetter on the far turn and surged to the lead at midstretch before drawing clear under a hand ride for an easy victory. "I think she really ran awesome," said winning...

2nd-GP, 50K, Msw, 3yo, (S), 1mT, 1:25 p.m. Purchased for $650,000 at FTSAUG in 2023, Florida-bred OUR SOUPER HERO (War of Will) was his sire's priciest yearling from that debut crop. Owned by Live Oak Plantation, the colt, who will face fellow Florida-breds Friday, is a half to both GSW/MGISP Pappacap (Gun Runner) and GSW Boppy O (Bolt d'Oro). First dam Pappascat, herself graded stakes placed, boasts a perfect four-for-four record for runners to winners. Debuting on the turf for trainer Mark Casse, Our Souper Hero gets Dylan Davis aboard....

This tier of the market, between $20,000 and $29,999, offers particular value through its more established names: horses that have walked the walk sufficiently to clear the basement level, while somehow failing to achieve due commercial prestige. Indeed, our podium is dominated by the two eldest of the eligible stallions, while the only candidates considered for the third step were all in the process of consolidating strong starts. That said, the case for the three young sires at the other end of the spectrum--whose first foals are about to slither...

With the scratch of 8-5 favorite Supa Speed (Justify) at the gate, it was a 10-1 longshot who took advantage of the delay as Will Then (f, 2, War of Will--Remember Then, by Pulpit) exploded down the middle of the course to take the GIII Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar. Will Then was last seen Oct. 26 breaking her maiden up north at Woodbine on their turf course but before that did not find the Kentucky Downs course to her liking, finishing 10th on debut Aug. 31. In no...

Dual-surface Grade I winner War of Will (War Front--Visions of Clarity {Ire}, by Sadler's Wells), the sire of 14 individual winners from his first crop to the races in 2024, will stand the 2025 breeding season for $20,000 LFSN, officials at Claiborne Farm announced Monday. Victorious in the GI Preakness Stakes on the dirt and the GI Maker's Mark Mile on the grass, War of Will is the second-leading freshman sire by turf winner and earnings and has been represented to date by three stakes horses She's Got Will, My...

1st-GP, $65k, Msw, 2yo, f, 7 1/2fT, 12:00p.m. ET Sumdge (Quality Road) debuts in Florida on Breeders' Cup Saturday, tabbed at 4-1 odds on the morning line for owner D J Stable and trainer Mark Casse. Sold at KEESEP in 2023 for $525,000, she is a half-sister to the ill-fated GISW Mongolian Groom (Hightail) as well as five-time winner Ice Bar (Keen Ice) and one other winner. Dam Bourbonesque (Dynaformer) is a half-sister to SP Cologne (Horse Chestnut {SAf}), who is the dam of MGSW Dragon Bay (Parading). The is...

May Day Ready (Tapit) put it all together once again in her second career start to claim the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Stakes. A winner on unveiling Aug. 4 at Saratoga as the second longest shot on the board in a roughly run maiden on the grass, she shipped south from that productive contest which also yielded Ballerina d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), who won an allowance earlier on the same card. Sent away here at 9-2, she tracked the action in front of her from sixth and raced along from cover...

Once again American investors have shown an increasing receptivity to European bloodlines, this time at the big yearling sale in Deauville. For now, however, we're still only talking about a minority even among those with the resources required to import elite yearlings. But with a reciprocal curiosity also growing in Europe--thanks to Justify, in particular, but also to those breeze-up pinhookers now preparing their next raid on the September Sale--it does feel as though the overdue renewal of transatlantic traffic is beginning to gain commercial traction. We still have a...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. --Though he was en route to Toronto Thursday, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said he had a clear view of She's Got Will's (War of Will) one-length victory in the sixth race at Saratoga Race Course. Casse watched the 1 1/16th miles $100,000 maiden special weight race for 2-year-old fillies on his iPad on the Queen Elizabeth Way in southern Ontario about 30 miles from Niagara Falls. He was headed from Saratoga to Woodbine Racetrack for Saturday's $1-million King's Plate Stakes, where he will saddle Essex...

Mark Casse has had plenty of good horses in his career. His favorite is not all that surprising. He has had an audience with one of the most iconic people the world has ever seen. He is one of a select few to have been elected into Racing Hall of Fames in the U.S. and Canada. What does he do when he has a little down time? What's the deal with Tom Cruise? Read more in this week's Saratoga Conversation to find out. TDN: Correct me if I am wrong,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In the fall of every year, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is out on the recruiting trail. He looks for the best four-legged athletes he can find. He goes to Lexington to seek out young talent. If Thursday's sixth race at Saratoga Race Course-- a $100,000 maiden special weight at 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon Turf--is any indication, coach Casse may have found a couple of  blue chippers at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Tracy Farmer's Abientot (Not This Time) finished strongly to...

11th-Colonial Downs, $60,000, Msw, 7-18, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, 1:03.91, gd, 6 lengths. CURAHEE (g, 2, War of Will--Blameitonthemusic, by Blame) graduated with a professional six-length tally over the Colonial turf course Thursday. The even-money favorite, looking to become the fourth winner for his freshman sire (by War Front), broke sharply and was on the lead in the early strides. He sat a pressing second as Lazio (Bucchero) had the lead through an opening quarter in :22.17. Curahee stuck a head in front at the top of the lane and skipped...