After an eventful opening two legs of the American Triple Crown, trainer Mark Casse wants nothing more than a drama-free Belmont Stakes.
And for good reason. Casse's horse, War of Will, has been in the thick of the Triple Crown turmoil.
On May 4, Maximum Security was disqualified for interference after winning the Kentucky Derby. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione had War of Will just behind Maximum Security coming off the final turn but the leader suddenly veered out and nearly clipped heels with War of Will, who was forced to change course and thus impede rivals Long Range Toddy, Bodeexpress and Country House.
Maximum Security finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of 65-1 longshot Country House but jockeys Flavien Prat (Country House) and Jon Court (Long Range Toddy) both claimed foul. Following a 22-minute delay, stewards disqualified Maximum Security and awarded Country House the historic win.
War of Will never recovered from the incident, finishing eighth before being elevated to No. 7 with the disqualification.
War of Will overcame the Derby controversy two weeks later to capture the Preakness Stakes, delivering Casse his first U.S. Triple Crown victory. War of Will and Gaffalione fended off a field that included a riderless Bodeexpress, who threw jockey John Velazquez out of the gate but still finished.
"I've done many interviews the last three, four weeks and I'd say a lot of them are because of the controversy that surrounded the Kentucky Derby," Casse said during a conference call Friday. "Not so much about what happened in the Preakness.
"I'm just hoping we can have a nice, quiet Belmont."
And after drawing the No. 1 post for the Derby and Preakness, Casse — 10 times Canada's top trainer — wants to make it a clean sweep at Belmont Park.
"Now, I'm going on record telling everybody, 'I want to draw the No. 1 hole,'" he said with a chuckle. "It's going to be something like 2,600-1 if we can do it three times in a row."
War of Will's Preakness win has prompted some to wonder about what might've been had it not been for the Derby controversy. After all, a War of Will win at Churchill Downs would've created a situation for a potential second straight Triple Crown champion (Justify won last year) and third since 2015 (American Pharaoh).
But Casse isn't among them.
"I don't look back at all," he said. "I'm just so happy to be where I'm at, that our horse is in one piece, he's healthy and nothing happened to him in the Derby.
"If nothing happened were we going to win for sure? No, I'm not going to say that. The only thing I'd say is it was going to be one heck of a horse race."
And that won't change even if War of Will wins the 1 1/2-mile Belmont on June 8.
"I'm not going to worry about what could've been," Casse said. "If we win the Belmont, you know what the first thing will be that I'm thinking?
"How do we win the Travers Stakes (Aug. 24 at Saratoga)?"
While a Triple Crown won't be on the line June 8, War of Will still has plenty to shoot for. A victory would make War of Will just the 12th horse to come up short in the Derby, then win the remaining two Triple Crown events.
Afleet Alex (2005) was the last horse to accomplish the feat. However, Casse said the Belmont will present an interesting challenge for War of Will.
"He's got plenty of speed," Casse said. "The question and what will decide whether he can go a mile and a half is how willing he is to rate early.
"He did rate very well in the Preakness but it was an extremely fast pace. I think a lot of it is just going to depend on how much Tyler can get him to relax."
Following War of Will's Preakness victory, the decision was made to not work him in preparation for the Belmont.
"Here's a horse that if he's not fit now, we'll never be fit," Casse said. "The other thing is why going a mile and a half do I really want to get him pumped up and on the bridle and that's all the work we do.
"He's a happy horse right now so we're just going to go with it that way. If we get beat in the Belmont it's not going to be because of a lack of fitness, I promise you that."
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
