Mark Casse, the trainer of War of Will, told Alicia Wincze-Hughes, who is here assisting the Fair Grounds publicity department, that War of Will "was significantly off after the race."

"We think what happened was about four jumps out of the gate, he actually broke in front and . . . if you watch he buckles on his right hind. And we believe, maybe it was stumble of some sort. But when he did we think he strained maybe a muscle or whatever.

"But he was significantly off after the race. He’s significantly off. I’ve just been on the phone with Dr. Robert McMartin, he’s my main guy. And he thinks he maybe caught his stifle or something. We feel like he’ll probably be a little better tomorrow and we’re going to further evaluation him."

Asked if it was too soon to know his status for the Kentucky Derby, Casse said: "I mean it is. I would not absolutely rule him out because this is something that he can get over very quickly. We’ll see. The good news is he hasn’t broken anything. It’s a muscle strain of some sort. We’re confident of that.”