The fields for the 14 races that comprise the Breeders’ Cup World Championships really begin to come into focus in summer and fall and this regular feature will offer a snapshot profile of one of the previous weekend’s standout stars.

West Will Power punched his ticket to the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic with a determined half-length victory July 1 in the $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes at Ellis Park. The 5-year-old by Bernardini has emerged as a force in the older male division with four wins, three seconds, and one third-place finish in his eight starts in 2022 and 2023.

Speed is West Will Power’s best attribute and his evolution into one of the elite two-turn, dirt racehorses in the U.S. corresponded with a switch from stalking tactics to a more aggressive approach early in his races. He excels when setting or pressing the pace.

West Will Power has been very good and ultra-consistent since he first set foot on a racetrack as he has only finished outside the top three twice in 17 starts and lost by more than three lengths just one time in his career. More recently, his four starts this year have been superb.

West Will Power opened 2023 with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Razorback Handicap Feb. 18, where he earned a new career-best 117 Equibase Speed Figure. He followed with a 4 ¾-length romp in the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic Stakes Presented by Relyne GI By Hagyard that earned a 115 speed figure. He faded a bit late when third in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet on the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve undercard but regained his winning form in the Stephen Foster.

West Will Power utilized his speed in the Stephen Foster to gain good tactical position when both Stilleto Boy and Speed Bias broke sharply and engaged in a brief battle for the lead entering the first turn at Ellis Park. Speed Bias seized command and West Will Power, under jockey Flavien Prat, settled into a comfortable rhythm in second, tracking from about a length to 1 ½ lengths off Speed Bias along the backstretch through a half-mile in :46.97. West Will Power took over the lead on cue on the final turn and surged to a clear lead in early stretch before having plenty left to hold off a late bid from runner-up Rattle N Roll.

Sure, Rattle N Roll made up significant ground late, but West Will Power covered the final eighth of a mile in :12.73 and his final three-eighths of a mile in :37.10, so the winner finished quite well considering he was close to a solid early pace. He equaled a career-best 117 Equibase Speed Figure in the Stephen Foster. Simply put, this was a big race from West Will Power.

West Will Power has never tried the 1 ¼-mile distance of the Longines Classic, but longer does seem better for him as he’s compiled four wins and two seconds in six starts at 1 1/8 miles, while both of his unplaced finishes came at one mile.

The older male division lacks a standout and this year’s Longines Classic appears to be a wide-open race as we approach the key summer meetings at Del Mar and Saratoga Race Course. West Will Power looks like a major win contender to me in 2023, and here’s why:

• Seven of the last 10 Classic winners profiled as racehorses who prefer to press or set the pace and the other three were stalkers. Recent history has shown that horses with tactical speed, like West Will Power, have a major advantage in the Classic.
• Slow horses don’t win the Classic. The average winning Equibase Speed Figure over the last 20 years has been 120.85 with a median of 119. With a career-best 117, West Will Power is right within range of the type of figure needed to win the race.
• While West Will Power has never tried the 1 1/4-mile distance, his best distance to date has been 1 1/8 miles and his pedigree suggests 1 ¼ miles should be within his scope. He’s by 2006 Preakness winner and stamina influence Bernardini out of Wild Promises, a Wild Event mare who won 13 of 20 career starts, including seven stakes races. Wild Promises won three stakes at 1 1/8 miles and another at 1 3/8 miles, so West Will Power has stamina top and bottom in his pedigree.
• Trainer Brad Cox won the Classic in 2021 with Knicks Go and jockey Flavien Prat won last year on Flightline. West Will Power is in capable hands.
• While we have no idea how West Will Power’s season will progress nor how he will fare in his final preps at this point in the season, he almost never runs a bad race. Consistent excellence is a hallmark of past classic winners. The last 20 Classic winners finished in the top three in 57 of 61 starts (93.4%) from June through October of their Breeders’ Cup-winning campaign and won 40 of those races (65.6%).