Fire At Will lands shock victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf

Former Coolmore Stud shuttler Declaration Of War (War Front) sired his seventh elite level winner when the Michael Maker-trained Fire At Will (2 c ex Flirt by Kitten's Joy) ran out a surprise winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (Gr 1, 8f) at Keeneland on Friday. 

Last seen landing the With Anticipation Stakes (Listed, 7f) on September 2, the two-year-old colt had carved out a healthy lead as the field entered the straight and Battleground’s (War Front) late flourish was not enough to get close to the leader, who hit the line with a decisive three length advantage. Outadore (Outwork) was another neck away in third. 

"We've had a good run of luck the last four or five months and Ricardo [Santana, jockey] was available and was doing a great job for us – we felt he deserved a chance,” said Maker. 

"To be honest, I thought the horse way overpriced. He's done nothing wrong and was very professional."

The colt was purchased by Three Diamonds Farm for US$97,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and he is out of Flirt (Kitten’s Joy) who was purchased by Tollgate Farm for US$8,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Sale when carrying the colt in utero. 

Flirt herself is half-sister to Grade 1 winner Decorated Invader (Declaration Of War) and Listed winner Jubilant Girl (Henrythenavigator) - the dam of Listed scorer Native American (Intello). 

The colt also hails from the same family as Prince of Wales's Stakes (Gr 1, 1m2f) winner Lord North (Dubawi), who will look to add a second top-flight race to his CV in the Breeders' Cup Turf (Gr 1, 12f) at Keeneland on Saturday. 

Declaration Of War shuttled to Australia for two seasons and Fire Of Will, joins the likes of last year’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) winner Vow And Declare and Warning, who won the VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) last season as the stallion’s other top-flight winners. Having stood at Coolmore for eight seasons, the son of War Front (Danzig) was relocated to JBBA's Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan in 2019.