War of Will, Tacitus Try to Match Maximum Security in Jim Dandy

When the dust finally settled on a topsy-turvy and controversial Triple Crown, it appeared that Gary Barber's War of Will (War Front) came out of the scrum with a slight lead in the race for champion 3-year-old male. After last weekend's heroics from Maximum Security (New Year's Day) in the GI TVG.com Haskell Invitational though, the GI Preakness S. victor will likely have to match that salvo with an impressive performance of his own in Saturday's GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga to stay at the division's forefront.

Starting his sophomore season with convincing scores in the GIII Lecomte S. and GII Risen Star S., War of Will faltered as the favorite when ninth in the GII Louisiana Derby and was placed seventh in the GI Kentucky Derby after being involved in the infamous far-turn incident. He bounced back to pick up a well-earned score in the Preakness, but with a chance to take a firm grip on the championship chase, only beat one horse when finishing a flat ninth in the GI Belmont S. Given a few weeks off after that, he's breezed four times in preparation for this nine-furlong test, highlighted by a local five-panel work in 1:00.43 (5/29) July 13.

“He's good and he's ready,” trainer Mark Casse told the NYRA notes team. “The best way to describe it is that he's in a good place. We're happy. A lot of times, a trainer will say, 'I wish I could have done this or that.' That's not the case here. I'm happy with him. It's up to him now.”

Also firmly in the conversation for top 3-year-old colt while needing a strong showing to stay there is Juddmonte Farms' consistent Tacitus (Tapit). A second-out victor last fall at Aqueduct, the late-running gray kicked off his sophomore season with scores in the GII Tampa Bay Derby and GII Wood Memorial S. before running a good third in the Run for the Roses. Marooned in an outside draw in the Belmont, he ran a winning race as a valiant runner-up, covering 65 more feet than rail-skimming winner Sir Winston (Awesome Again) according to Trakus while only getting beaten a length.

'TDN Rising Star' Global Campaign (Curlin) will try to make some noise in the second half of the season starting here. Opening his account with a pair of easy open-lengths tallies this winter at Gulfstream, the $250,000 KEESEP grad was fifth after chasing a fast pace in the GII Xpressbet Fountain of Youth S. Mar. 2 in Hallandale. Taken off the Triple Crown trail, he resurfaced in the GIII Peter Pan S., where he chased a fast pace and prevailed by 1 1/4 lengths over Sir Winston. Passing on runs in the Belmont and GIII Ohio Derby, the bay shows three Saratoga breezes in preparation for this engagement, capped by a five-furlong spin in 1:01.53 (2/12) over the main track July 20.

Tax (Arch) looks for his first victory since capturing the GIII Withers S. Feb. 2 at Aqueduct. A $50,000 claim by trainer Danny Gargan last October at Keeneland, the gelding completed the exacta behind Tacitus in the Wood and was 14th in the Derby before checking in a pace-chasing fourth in the Belmont.