Claiborne Farm’s top-class stallion War Front had a big day on Saturday 1 March.
War Front celebrated a pair of graded stakes winners on the day, and two of his sons struck gold as well.
At Gulfstream Park, War Front son Fort Washington won the Gr3 Canadian Turf Stakes, while War Front mare Liguria just got up to claim Saturday’s Gr2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita.
The outstanding War Front in action (Pic – Claiborne Farm)
To date, War Front has sired 118 stakes winners, with his tally including champions like Declaration Of War, U S Navy Flag, Brave Anna and Air Force Blue.
War Front is also the broodmare sire of Saturday’s Gr2 Mac Diarmida Stakes winner Capture The Flag, a son of Quality Road and the War Front mare War Flag.
A full-sister to Gr2 UAE Derby winner Lines Of Battle (who raced as so successfully as Helene Super Star in Hong Kong), War Flag was a top-class performer, winning five races including the Gr1 Flower Bowl Stakes and Gr3 Prix Chloe.
It is however, as a sire of sires that War Front, one of the best sire sons of legendary stallion Danzig, has really made his presence felt of late.
On Saturday, the Drakenstein Stud bred and owned Beach Bomb, by War Front’s much missed son Lancaster Bomber, made all to claim the Gr3 The Very One Stakes sponsored by MyRacehorse at Gulfstream Park.
Beach Bomb had made three starts prior to her The Very One Stakes win, with the daughter of Lancaster Bomber finishing second in the Violet Stakes, third in the Gr2 Rodeo Drive Stakes and eighth (beaten ) in the Gr1 Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.
It was a first US success for Beach Bomb, winner of both the World Sports Betting Gr1 Cape Fillies Guineas and Cartier Gr1 Paddock Stakes in South Africa. Her late sire Lancaster Bomber has enjoyed another wonderful, albeit posthumous, season this year, with the 2018 Tattersalls Gr1 Gold Cup winner also the sire of this season’s World Sports Betting Gr1 Cape Town Met/SplashOut Gr1 Cape Derby winner Eight On Eighteen, the 2025 Maine Chance Farms Gr1 Majorca Stakes winner Rascova, as well as 2025 SplashOut Gr3 Prix Du Cap heroine Siddeley. Eight On Eighteen and Saturday’s luckless TAB
S A Classic third Legend Of Arthur highlight Lancaster Bomber’s second and final crop.
One can but speculate what Lancaster Bomber might have achieved in a longer stud career, with his first crop, which produced Beach Bomb, also including Hollywoodbets Gr1 Cape Guineas winner Snow Pilot, dual graded stakes winner One Fell Swoop, and the aforementioned pair of Rascova and Siddeley.
Another son of War Front, Fire Away, came up with his first Gr1 winner when his progressive three-year-old son Confederate won the TAB Gr1 S A Classic. Fire Away provided the first two home in the S A Classic, with his TAB Gr2 S A Nursery winning son Fire Attack storming home to take second spot behind Confederate. The first three home in this year’s S A Classic were all sired by sons of War Front.
The luckless Fire Attack has now finished runner-up in three consecutive graded stakes race, with the chestnut taking second spot in both the Betway Gr2 Dingaans and Betway Gr3 Got The Greenlight Stakes prior to Saturday’s runner second cheque.
Fire Away, also responsible for recent Listed Ibhayi Stakes winner My Best Shot, has made a cracking start with his first two crops producing 7 stakes winners from 80 foals, an impressive strike rate indeed. With some well-bred crops in the pipeline, Fire Away appears to be a stallion set to go from strength to strength.
War Front is also the sire of first season sire Declarationofwar, whose first three runners have yielded two winners, including the very impressive debut winner Spacebound.
The latter defeated impressive subsequent winner Military Command (ironically enough sired by Fire Away) when he won first-time out at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.
