War Campaign primed and ready for Ben Ali

The $300,000 Ben Ali Stakes is, historically, a stakes level too low for trainer Phil Sims.

Sims, racing at Keeneland since the early 1980s, has two graded stakes wins at his home track, both Grade 1s.

Saturday, War Campaign rates a reasonable chance to give Sims his first Keeneland Grade 3. War Campaign drew the outside post in a nine-horse Ben Ali, a 1 3/16-mile dirt race for older horses. With Tyler Gaffalione riding for the first time, War Campaign is the likely second choice behind favored Kingsbarns.

While Kingsbarns is the name horse in the Bel Ali, it remains to be seen if capability aligns with reputation. He’s a favorite worth playing against, and many will gravitate toward War Campaign.

War Campaign clearly stays this extended route trip and at his best has run as fast as anyone in the Ben Ali. After winning the Tinsel Stakes on Dec. 16 at Oaklawn Park, War Campaign was freshened for several weeks, and his distant second-place finish March 23 in the Essex Stakes at Oaklawn, won by Grade 1 class First Mission, was a stepping-stone.

“We did have this race in mind,” Sims said. “I thought his Essex was nice, coming off a layoff at a mile and an eighth. He kind of needed the race.”

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Concerns exist. War Campaign’s three best races in 2023 came on sloppy or muddy tracks, and last April at Keeneland he was a flat sixth facing allowance foes on a fast track. Sims, too, is just 1 for 39 at Keeneland dating to fall 2021.

Kingsbarns won his first three starts, including an easy victory in the Louisiana Derby, and came unbeaten to the 2023 Kentucky Derby, where he was fifth choice at 11-1. Kingsbarns faded to 14th after pressing a hot pace, returned six weeks later and lost at odds of 1-2 in the Pegasus at Monmouth Park, then didn’t start again until March 2, when he won a seven-furlong Gulfstream Park allowance race.

“We gave him a break. He just seemed to tail off a little bit, lost weight,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He ran just okay in the Pegasus. He came back with a good effort at a distance I think is a little short of optimal for him.”

Kingsbarns will be forwardly placed under Luis Saez and is drawn just inside the fast, dedicated front-runner Laughing Boy. Kingsbarns won the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby leading on a walking pace after dominating overmatched rivals his first two starts. He has something to prove.

Pletcher’s second entrant, Dynamic One, was a good second in the 2022 Ben Ali and turned in two subsequent starts that would win Saturday’s contest. But three races into his return from a 15-month layoff, he hasn’t regained top form. Dynamic One did finish decently after a less than ideal trip March 9 in the Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, the same race that preceded his previous Ben Ali.

“It’s been taking him a little while to round into form. I thought his last race was a step in the right direction,” Pletcher said.

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Five-year-old Smile Happy makes his first start since being gelded, his first two outings of 2024 nothing like his peak form of 2023. Trainer Kenny McPeek said gelding hasn’t transformed Smile Happy, a temperamental horse “who will challenge you every day.” If Smile Happy runs another clunker, he’s likely to be retired.

Time for Trouble was a half-length behind War Campaign in the Essex but has a lower ceiling. Surly Furious needs a synthetic surface for his best, Happy American is not the same horse he was a year ago, and Archie the Giza is too slow.

Could be a Grade 3 for Phil Sims.

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