War Of Will found by Justin Casse on first visit to Arqana Breeze-Up

It was most fortuitous that Justin Casse attended the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale in Deauville for the first time in May 2018.

In an effort to distinguish his practice from other bloodstock agents, Casse had become a regular at overseas sales before making his first foray to Arqana last year for the sale that is the equivalent of a two-year-old in training sale in the US.

While en route to the auction for which he had sent four horses he had purchased that he thought would be of interest to overseas buyers, Casse perused the catalogue to see if there were any horses that could be of interest to his North American clientele.

Hip 100, offered by Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm, caught the agent's attention because it was a colt by prominent Claiborne Farm sire War Front out of a female family rich with bloodlines made famous by the Niarchos family's Flaxman Holdings, which bred the colt in Kentucky.

"He's an American-bred with a worldly pedigree," Casse said of his attraction to the colt he would end up buying for Gary Barber for €250,000.

Later named War Of Will, the colt trained by agent Casse's brother Mark has been installed as the 2-1 second favourite for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday after an impressive Preakness Stakes victory.

War Of Will was produced from the Sadler's Wells stakes-winning mare Visions Of Clarity, a half-sister to Spinning World, a five-time Group/Grade 1 winner who won the 1997 Breeders' Cup Mile in course-equaling time. In addition to War Of Will, Visions Of Clarity also has produced Irish champion two-year-old Pathfork and Tacticus, a multiple stakes-winning son of A.P. Indy whose name is not to be confused with Tacitus, this year's Belmont favourite.

An RNA at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was consigned by agent Lane's End, the colt then was bought privately by Williamson after going unsold on a final bid of $175,000.

Casse was attracted to the War Front colt's pedigree, and his interest was further piqued after watching his speedy quarter-mile pre-sale workout.

"The horse was very athletic," Casse said. "He breezed really well and was a very refined, athletic-looking horse with a lot of stretch. Most horses you see work fast generally look limited. This horse stood over more ground. To see a big beautiful horse that breezed fast, those are the type of horses that bring the most money, no matter whether it's in Europe or America."

Casse thought the colt, with all he had going for him, would be out of the price range for any of his clients until he spoke with Williamson.

"Norman Williamson, who was a very good jumps jockey and who broke the horse, had a high opinion of the horse, which meant a lot to me personally," said Casse. "I assumed this horse was going to cost more than I would have to spend. About 30 minutes before the sale, Norman told me he was light (with buyer interest) on the horse, which I was surprised to hear. Why he wasn't garnering more attention I don't know. War Front has gone through spells in Europe where buyers are on or off him. I think he is more of a firm-ground sire, and it is sporadic the type ground you're going to get year by year in Europe, France, and Ireland, and I think that had a little bit to do with it."

So Casse called Barber "and told him there was a War Front colt we should take a shot at."

Casse and Barber already had a successful track record with War Front. The agent purchased Grade 1 Maker's 46 Mile winner Jack Milton privately on behalf of the prominent owner.

"One of the very first horses I bought for Gary Barber was Jack Milton, so War Front works for Gary and that's where it starts," Casse said. "It starts with the pedigree and that success the owner had with that stallion."

Casse said his trips to auctions all over the world have proven to be a viable niche.

"I started going over there six years ago to try to differentiate myself from other agents," Casse said of his foreign sojourns. "You have to be able to pick out some pedigrees that appeal to the owners back home. Every time I go over there, I typically go through all the pedigrees to see which ones might work for my calls back home. It's worked out to be a good niche.

"We've had reasonable success and that's been helpful, and with the number of contacts I have gained in each country, I feel like I have a bit of an advantage over most Americans who might go over there. I have also really done well pinhooking and learning more about most commercial aspects of those markets throughout the world."

Casse said the process he went through to acquire War Of Will is typical of how he buys horses on behalf of clients, prospecting for individuals rather than being sent to auction with a budget.

"My primary purpose for being there wasn't even to buy," Casse said. "I don't always go somewhere with money in hand to spend on horses. One of the misconceptions people have is that buyers will give you a budget and say, 'I want to spend X amount and go find me something.' They would rather you say, 'I've found something I think would work for you,' and they say, 'How much will that cost?' That's how this unfolded, and more often than not, that's how it works."

Under Mark Casse's tutelage, War Of Will was initially pointed toward turf racing. Although War Of Will finished second in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes on the Woodbine turf in his second start, the colt was winless in four grass efforts before breaking his maiden over a sloppy Churchill Downs surface on his first main-track start. And the rest is history, as the colt won two graded stakes at Fair Grounds on the Triple Crown trail ahead off his eventful off-the-board finish in the Kentucky Derby, where he was bothered by Maximum Security, who was disqualified from victory.

War Of Will then bounced back with a clear victory in the Preakness. He is now preparing for the Belmont, where he will start from post 9. Of the nine Grade 1 winners with whom he has been associated, mostly as a pinhooker buying and selling horses that compete at the top level, Casse said War Of Will is the most gratifying.

"I am most proud of this horse because he is a Classic winner and the unorthodox style in which the horse was found - bought somewhere else, and he's thriving on a surface in which it was not supposed to strive," the agent said. "A lot of the Grade 1 winners I've been associated with I consigned or pinhooked, which is nice. But when you go pick one out for a guy to race, it's a little more special."

For more news on US racing, sales and bloodstock news visit bloodhorse.com