War of Will to stand at Claiborne Farm

Multiple Grade 1 winner War of Will will join his internationally successful sire War Front at Claiborne Farm upon his retirement from racing. The Hancock family's Paris, Ky., operation announced on Thursday that it had purchased an interest in the colt.

In the release, Claiborne said that 4-year-old War of Will, who is trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber, will enter stud in 2021, with a fee to be announced later this year.

“War of Will has an outstanding pedigree, and combined with his race record, he should be very appealing to breeders," Claiborne’s Walker Hancock said. “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.”

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War of Will won the 2019 Preakness Stakes following an adventurous trip in the Kentucky Derby in which he was promoted to seventh upon the disqualification of Maximum Security. He took the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile on July 10 on the Keeneland turf. That win made him the third horse to win both an American classic and a Grade 1 race on the turf, joining Secretariat and California Chrome.

In total, War of Will has earned more than $1.7 million and won 5 of 16 starts. He also took the Grade 2 Risen Star and Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes early in his 3-year-old season, finished second in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes on the Woodbine turf while still a maiden, and was third in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby last fall.

“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,” trainer Mark Casse said. “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, also the dam of Group 1 winner Pathfork and multiple stakes winner Tacticus. Visions of Clarity, a half-sister to Irish classic winner and Breeders' Cup Mile winner Spinning World, is from one of the prolific families in history, tracing to the great broodmare Best In Show through that one's daughter Minnie Hauk and Group 1-winning granddaughter Aviance. The family is responsible for Kentucky Oaks winner Blush With Pride and her outstanding daughter Better Than Honour, dam of champion Rags to Riches and fellow Belmont Stakes winner Jazil. It is also the extended family, in North America and Europe, of champions Aldebaran, Close Hatches, El Gran Senor, Malinowski, Peeping Fawn, Try My Best, and Xaar, and Grade 1/Group 1 winners Bahamian Pirate, Chief Contender, Chimes of Freedom, Denon, Domedriver, Good Journey, Saddex, Senure, Siskin, Thewayyouare, and Yagli. In Japan, another distant branch of this family is responsible for Group 1 winner Fusaichi Pandora, dam of Horse of the Year Almond Eye. In Australia, Best In Show's descendants include Group 1 winner and leading sire Redoute's Choice, as well as Group 1 winners Al Maher, He's No Pie Eater, Hurricane Sky, Platinum Scissors, and Umatilla.