MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2019 WAR OF WILL SHOWS WAR WOLFENDALE TURNS LIFELONG PASSION INTO A CAREER by Christie DeBernardis FRONT=S VERSATILITY As a third-generation horse woman with a degree in broadcasting, the position of paddock analyst for the New York Racing Association was a perfect fit for Maggie Wolfendale. She started the job in 2010 and has since become the face of the New York racetracks, or at least their paddocks. AI grew up at the barn, barn 18 at Laurel Park [where her father Howard Wolfendale trained],@ Wolfendale said on a blustery winter day at Aqueduct. AI had ponies and retired racehorses before really starting my life at the track. I started galloping when I was 16 for my dad. Everything progressed from there. I really fell in love with it more once I graduated high school and immersed myself in the racetrack culture. I loved working with the horses in the morning and went to school for broadcasting, so I got to marry the two. I kinda feel like the luckiest girl in the world that I got to do that.@ Cont. p5 (click here) War of Will | Hodges Photography The Week in Review, by Bill Finley IN TDN EUROPE TODAY When you go all the way to France to buy a 2-year-old who is LA ROUTE: SIZING UP THE FRENCH SIRE RANKS by War Front out of a Sadler=s Wells mare, you might have Tom Frary reports from France’s La Route des Etalons. Click dreams of winning the GI Belmont Derby, the GI Secretariat S. or or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. a Breeders= Cup race on the turf. But the GI Kentucky Derby? That didn=t cross Mark Casse=s mind when War of Will (War Front) showed up at his barn after being purchased by his brother Justin last year at the Arqana May 2-Year-Old Breeze Up Sale. Why would it? On behalf of client Gary Barber, Justin Casse paid the equivalent of $298,550 for a horse whose pedigree, when it comes to grass racing, is as good as it gets. War of Will had previously RNA=d as a yearling at Keeneland September for $175,000. Casse did what any trainer would have done with a horse with that sort of pedigree. He plotted out a grass campaign, and he came away without a single win. War of Will did run second in the GI Summer S. at Woodbine, but, after finishing fifth in the GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile Turf, his career record stood at 0-for-4. War of Will was hardly a bust on the grass, but he now has a new lease on life, and in the last place you=d expect it--in dirt races. He won his first career race in a Nov. 24 maiden special weight run over a sloppy main track at Churchill Downs. With Tyler Gaffalione aboard, he drew off to win by five. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Monday, January 21, 2019 Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam @BMassamTDN Associate Editors Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistants Alexa Reisfield Amie Morosco Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Social Media Strategist Justina Severni Director of Customer Service Spa treatment. Myra Hall gives graded stakes winner Gala Spinaway (Star Choice) his Vicki Forbes daily grooming with a vacuum on Sunday at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, MD. The [email protected] 31-year-old pensioner was the first stakes winner for his trainer, Graham Motion, and Marketing Manager he lives in the care of the Herringswell Stables team in his retirement. | Graham Motion Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen Director of Information Technology Ray Villa [email protected] UNDER THE RADAR: ALGORITHMS 9 Bookkeeper Shawn Collins offers his take on why Algorithms may be flying under Terry May the radar in the 2019 breeding season. [email protected] WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor PANTSONFIRE LIGHTS IT UP IN ASTRA 10 Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN Pantsonfire (Ire) (Sir Percy {GB}) sat the right trip and pounced in the [email protected] lane to notch a decisive victory in the Sunday feature in Arcadia. European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 11 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • JANUARY 21, 2019 The Week in Review (cont. from p1) He worked out of the gate and my exercise rider was on War of Will and War of Will just blew him away. Julien said, >My horse Casse and Barber were so impressed that they immediately can run, but I want to know who that other one is?= Who would started to plot a route to the Kentucky Derby. think you would buy a War Front in France and bring him to the AWe went to New Orleans to U.S. to be a good dirt horse.@ get him ready for the Kentucky Casse said he and Barber Derby,@ Casse said. AI thought considered going on the dirt in that when he broke his maiden the GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile, that was as impressive a race I but that didn=t seem like a saw all year from any 2-year-old logical spot to try the dirt for the in a maiden race.@ first time. Once the Breeders= A much more important test Cup was over, Casse couldn=t get came last Saturday. Stepping the horse on the dirt quick into stakes company and facing enough. He will, of course, off against 11 challengers, he remain on the dirt for now, and romped in the GIII Lecomte S. at his next start will come in the the Fair Grounds, winning by GII Risen Star S. Feb. 16. four lengths. That made this son War of Will is not the first War of War Front 0-for-4 on the turf Front to have success on the and 2-for-2 on the dirt. Mark Casse | Sarah K. Andrew dirt, but it is less common. The AIs it a surprise that he=s done Factor (War Front) won four so well on the dirt?@ Casse said. AYes, a little bit. But when you stakes on the dirt, including the GI Malibu S. Departing (War work him on the dirt, he works an A-plus. I still remember one Front) won the GII West Virginia Derby, the GII Super Derby and morning at Saratoga before his first start. Julien Leparoux was the GIII Illinois Derby, all on the dirt. working a horse for me up at Saratoga that we liked pretty good. TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 11 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • JANUARY 21, 2019 But War Front is best know for his ability to produce stars on the grass. Throw in that War of Will=s dam, Visions of Clarity (Ire), never raced on the dirt and it=s hard to explain why this particular colt has prospered on the main track. Then again, it=s breeding, an inexact science. Another Baffert Star? Here we go again. After being among those who hyped Coliseum (Tapit) after he broke his maiden only to watch him run sixth in the GIII Sham S., I ought to remember that trainer Bob Baffert is, well, human. But it=s pretty hard not be excited about the debut of Dessman (Union Rags) in Saturday=s seventh race at Santa Anita. With Flavien Prat, who doesn=t ride that often for Baffert, aboard, Dessman whipped a field of maidens to win by 7 1/2 lengths. Once upon a time, the fact that he did not race as a 2-year-old might have discouraged some when it comes to his Kentucky Derby chances, but as memory serves me, didn=t Baffert just win the Triple Crown with a horse that didn=t race at two? The bottomless well of 3-year-old talent in this guy=s barn never ceases to amaze. In Appreciation of Roy H Roy H | Benoit photo Largely because sprinters don=t get the sort of fanfare that routers do, Roy H (More Than Ready) might just be one of the most underrated horses in years. Now a 7-year-old, he kicked off his 2019 campaign with a four-length win in the GII Palos Verdes S. Saturday at Santa Anita. His next stop will be Dubai for the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen. Before he departs, trainer Peter Miller and owner Rockingham Ranch will pick up their second straight Eclipse Award as Roy H will be named 2018 champion sprinter. He will be a repeat winner. The last horse to do that in the sprint category was Contact Sue Finley for details at 732-747-8060 or [email protected] TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 11 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • JANUARY 21, 2019 Housebuster in 1991 and 1990. Based on the way he ran Saturday, there=s no reason why Roy H. can=t win a third straight Eclipse Award this year--something no horse has done since Zenyatta, who won the Older Filly & Mare title in 2008, 2009 and 2010.