Gary and Mary West’s grade 1-winning homebred West Will Power has been retired after sustaining a soft tissue injury over the weekend during a work at Saratoga Race Course.
The 6-year-old son of Bernardini worked five furlongs July 29 in 1:02.24 at the Oklahoma Training Track and the injury was discovered soon afterward, trainer Brad Cox told Daily Racing Form. West Will Power had been preparing for the Aug. 5 Whitney Stakes (G1).
Renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage evaluated the injury and determined West Will Power could not recover in time to be considered for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, according to Ben Glass, the Wests’ racing and bloodstock manager. The colt will transition to a stud career at a farm yet to be determined.
West Will Power is out of the Wild Event grade 3 winner Wild Promises , who won 13 races and placed five times out of 20 starts, mostly on the turf. The Wests bought the mare for $200,000 in foal to multiple grass champion Gio Ponti at the 2012 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale from Romans Racing & Sales consignment. The owner/breeders bred six foals out of the mare, which included three winners before West Will Power was 2. They sold the mare for $3,700 in foal to Flashback on a June cover at the 2018 Keeneland November sale to Pam Schutz. Wild Promises did not have a live foal in 2019 and has not been bred since then.
Trained initially by Kelly Breen, West Will Power won his debut at 3 by two lengths at Monmouth Park in September 2020. He became graded stakes-placed at 4 with a runner-up finish in the Philip H. Iselin Stakes (G3). The colt was transferred to Cox for the 2022 racing season, when he would capture his first graded stakes in the Fayette Stakes (G2) at Keeneland. He would never finish off the board following that win and add victories in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) and New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) to his résumé. He was retired with a 7-7-1 record from 17 starts and earnings of $1,745,390.
Prominent sire and American classic winner Bernardini, who died in 2021, does not have any commercial sire-sons standing in Kentucky. His most successful son at stud is Lovacres Ranch’s Stay Thirsty , who ranks second among California sires by 2023 progeny earnings and is the leading sire so far this year by number of winners with 60.
Wild Promises is a half sister to grade 2 winner and course record-setter Icy Atlantic (Stormy Atlantic). The mare’s second dam, Has Promise, is a half sister to multiple grade 1 winner and sire Jolie’s Halo, to grade 2 winner Cougarized, and to graded-placed stakes winners Pleasant Jolie and Mister Jolie.
