War of Will staves off field, captures Preakness Stakes | Dick Jerardi

BALTIMORE — Two weeks before, on the far turn of the Kentucky Derby, had jockey Tyler Gaffalione waited a few seconds longer with War of Will, the inside path was going to come wide open, because Maximum Security was about to the bolt from a path near the rail. Unfortunately, Gaffalione went outside right when a bunch of horses were in the same space, and it got so crazy, the first Derby “winner” was eventually disqualified.

In Saturday’s Preakness at Pimlico, the jockey never left the rail with his mount, waiting on the far turn behind horses for a hole to open. When a hole on the rail opened, Gaffalione had the right horse to take advantage. War of Will burst through, past the front-runners and won by 1 1/4 lengths over 29-1 longshot Everfast.

Who knows what might have happened had the jockey waited at Churchill Downs? Almost certainly no DQ of Maximum Security, and perhaps War of Will may have been good enough to win the Derby.

Bottom line, after the Derby incident, War of Will had more than 400 yards to run by Maximum Security and could not do it. The colt made a heroic run to even get close after being bottled up the entire run down the backstretch.

This time, on a fast track and not a sloppy one, he had a clearer run and won impressively.

It was the first Triple Crown win for trainer Mark Casse, who was so unlucky not to win the 2016 Preakness with Classic Empire. The trainer was also not lucky in that year’s Derby. Now, it was time, and, unlike so many of his contemporaries, Casse was unafraid to run his horse back in the Preakness with just two weeks’ rest.

None of the first four horses over the line in the Derby ran in the Preakness, including Maximum Security and official winner Country House. War of Will finished eighth in the Derby, but was moved to seventh after the DQ. The colt was better than that finish and proved it in the Preakness, running the mile and three-sixteenths in 1 minute, 54.34 seconds.

Derby favorite Improbable, who finished fifth before being moved to fourth then, was also favored in the Preakness. He finished an undistinguished sixth. A loose horse ran around the track when jockey John Velazquez was dumped at the start by Bodexpress. The colt kept running, but it does not count without a jockey.

Marshall Gramm’s Ten Strike Racing took a big chance by supplementing Warrior’s Charge to the Preakness for $150,000. The colt did the stable proud by finishing fourth after setting a very quick pace. Ten Strike runs at many tracks, including Parx Racing, where it has won two recent owner’s titles.

But this Preakness was all about War of Will, who started as a grass horse and was switched to dirt last November. War of Will won two New Orleans preps for the Louisiana Derby before missing the break in the La. Derby, losing his action and suffering a minor injury.

The trainer had War of Will to ready to run six weeks later in the Derby, but was unrewarded. In the Preakness, the colt was just the fastest horse, needing no luck and getting a just reward.