War Like Goddess towers over rivals as she goes for Flower Bowl repeat

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If there’s one thing that can be said for certain about Saturday’s outstanding 13-race program at Saratoga, it is the road to the winner’s circle for the Grade 2 Flower Bowl goes through War Like Goddess. The $600,000 Flower Bowl drew a field of seven long-winded fillies and mares to go 1 3/8 miles on the turf.

War Like Goddess is the undisputed leader of her division and defending Flower Bowl champion, having rallied to a popular 2 1/4-length victory in last year’s renewal, which came on the heels of a similarly easy triumph in the Grade 2 Glens Falls earlier in the meet. She will be heavily favored to repeat a sweep of those two events this summer, having successfully defended her Glens Falls title with a 1 1/4-length victory that was arguably more impressive than the final margin might suggest.

War Like Goddess rallied from off a snail-like pace to open the current campaign with a 1 3/4-length decision in the Grade 3 Bewitch at Keeneland. Overall, she’s captured six of seven starts since March 2021, the lone blemish on her record a frustrating third-place finish when beaten just a half-length by Japanese invader Loves Only You as the 2-1 favorite last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

“She’s lightly raced and doing well. I feel she’s going into this race fresh and in really good shape,” said trainer Bill Mott. “I think her two wins this year have been impressive just simply because she was able to win off a slow pace. The Bewitch was the slowest race I’ve ever seen. She was checked several times just keeping off heels, and was still able to overcome it.”

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A soft pace could also be in the offing in the Flower Bowl considering the makeup of the field.

“That would be a concern for me. There’s not a lot of pace in this race, either,” Mott conceded.

As for whether he still agonizes some over War Like Goddess’ near miss in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup, Mott said, “The fact she was so close without winning, that is frustrating. She was parked on the outside wide the whole way, saw daylight early in the race. Maybe she did too much too soon.”

When asked if he thought his filly was the best horse in that race, Mott thought for a moment and replied, “I think she may have been equally as good as the winner.”

Obviously, getting back to the Breeders’ Cup is the main goal for War Like Goddess this fall, although the Filly and Mare Turf may not be the race to which she’ll be pointed.

“If we go to the Breeders’ Cup, we’re likely going to have to run against the boys since the Filly and Mare Turf will be at a mile and three-sixteenths at Keeneland and I think that puts her at a disadvantage,” said Mott. “It’s something we’ve been curious about doing all season long, and now we may have that opportunity.”

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War Like Goddess will be taking on the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers from the Glens Falls – Temple City Terror, Virginia Joy and Flanigan’s Cove, respectively – once again in the Flower Bowl. Virginia Joy is one of the three fillies and mares trainer Chad Brown entered for the race along with Capital Structure and Marvelous Maude. Coastana completes the lineup.

Trainer Shug McGaughey has high hopes for Flanigan’s Cove as her career progresses. She finished fourth, just three lengths behind War Like Goddess, making her stakes debut in the Glens Falls. She earned far and away a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 93.

“I’ve really been pointing for this race for some time,” said McGaughey. “I think she’s made great progress. When we stretched her out around two turns and put her on the grass it made all the difference.

“Obviously Bill’s horse has to not run her race and we’re going to need to improve, but I believe, hopefully starting Saturday, that she’s going to be a big factor in long-distance turf races moving forward.”

Temple City Terror, trained by Brendan Walsh, could not match the late punch of War Like Goddess but was able to best Virginia Joy to finish second in the Glens Falls while posting a career-best Beyer of 95.

Virginia Joy is the only graded stakes winner in the field aside from the favorite, having dominated the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay over a yielding course by 14 1/4 lengths this spring at Belmont Park.