War Like Goddess Kicks Off 2022 Season in Bewitch

After finishing a half-length short of victory in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) at Del Mar Nov. 6, War Like Goddess returns to battle April 29 in the $300,000 Bewitch Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland. A four-time stakes winner in 2021, including the Flower Bowl Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course, War Like Goddess came close to a championship last year. She finished second in voting for North America's Eclipse Award-winning turf female behind Japanese star Loves Only You (JPN). The latter also proved her nemesis in the Breeders' Cup, where she defeated third-place War Like Goddess, with runner-up My Sister Nat (FR) split between them. George Krikorian's War Like Goddess lost the Breeders' Cup but left an indelible impression on those that witnessed her race. Twelfth early in the 1 3/8-mile turf contest, she rallied wide under Julien Leparoux to go from ninth after a mile to first by the 1 1/4-mile midstretch stage. She was then slightly outkicked in the final furlong by the top two. "Unfortunately, she had a little bit of a premature wide move into the Breeders' Cup that could have cost her," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. "She went from like last to first in a very short period of time. She was slightly anxious to get it on, and it cost her a little bit." She might be able to overcome a miscue or two Friday in the closing-day Bewitch over 1 1/2 miles on grass. War Like Goddess faces merely six rivals, none with Breeders' Cup experience, though Family Way is sharp and classy, having won the Orchid Stakes (G3T) April 2 at Gulfstream Park. A 5-year-old mare by English Channel, War Like Goddess has been training at Payson Park in South Florida after being given a 60-day break following the Breeders' Cup. She won the Bewitch last year after twice racing during the early part of the year in Florida. "Everything's been very straightforward coming back," Mott said. "We've got some breezes in her, and she looks good and is doing well." Mott said the $600,000 Flower Bowl Sept. 3 at Saratoga could be on her itinerary again this year, though he expressed disappointment the longtime grade 1 race was downgraded this year to a grade 2. There is a void of grade 1 opportunities for fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles or longer aside from the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf, which returns to Keeneland this fall. Grade 2 and grade 3 turf marathons are available for fillies and mares, but to compete in grade 1s, War Like Goddess may need to race at 1 1/4 miles or shorter or face males in a longer turf contest. "Maybe that's something we have to think about one time, too," Mott speculated. Joel Rosario rides War Like Goddess, who carries 118 pounds, two fewer than Hunter Valley Farm, Debra O'Connor, and Marc Detampel's highweight Family Way. The Brandon Walsh trainee spots the entire field two pounds after her recent victory in Florida. La Lune (GB), a group 3 winner in Britain who ran second to Family Way in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon Stakes at Kentucky Downs last year, is another threat, as is the graded-placed, stakes-winning Luck Money. Both are unraced this year. La Lune adds blinkers.