War of Will expected to race at Belmont

Trainer Mark Casse said Preakness Stakes winner War of Will is likely to race in the Belmont Stakes on June 8, even though the Triple Crown is not at stake.

"There's only three Triple Crown races," Casse said Sunday. "They're pretty important. I think if you can do it, you should do it."

War of Will raced to a 1 3/4-length victory at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday after finishing in seventh place in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago.

Casse said he has had preliminary discussions with owner Gary Barber about the horse's next race and said "there's an extremely good shot we'll be there" at the Belmont in Elmont, N.Y.

"He's tough and able to overcome things," Casse said of the Preakness champ. "You probably saw yesterday -- the Derby was very, very trying, and I was worried about that with him."

Casse said War of Will's recuperation from the Preakness will indicate whether he will race.

"Now it's just a matter of him saying he doesn't want to go and that would just be that he was lethargic training," Casse said.

--Field Level Media