NEW ORLEANS – It’s says in some weathered chapter of the horseman’s manual that you can get away with running a turf horse on a sloppy track, and when War of Will, who is turf-bred and made his first four starts on turf, won his dirt debut Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs, he did so on a sloppy track. But what we apparently have here is not a turf horse who managed a wet-track win, but a natural dirt horse originally miscast as a grass horse. For as good as War of Will looked beating maidens in the Churchill slop, he looked even better winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes over a Fair Grounds main track rated fast. War of Will, a barely controlled bundle of energy stalking the pace wide down the backstretch under Tyler Gaffalione, inhaled Manny Wah at the top of the stretch and ran off to a four-length win in the Lecomte. The performance was visually impressive and pretty good on the clock, War of Will stopping the timer in 1:43.44 for the one mile and 70 yards. That was nearly two seconds faster than Needs Supervision’s winning time in the Silverbulletday Stakes over the same distance one race earlier. Asked how War of Will traveled on the fast track early Saturday evening compared to the sloppy Churchill going, jockey Tyler Gaffalione said, “He was better, really.” Mark Casse, who trains War of Will for owner Gary Barber, said he wasn’t worried about transitioning to a fast main track. “He just trains so good. He’s a very impressive horse.” War of Will, a gorgeous dark bay with a white face who works and gallops with a sweet action, regardless of surface, earned 10 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby. And before anyone gets ahead of themselves, let’s note that the Lecomte has not exactly been a Triple Crown hotbed: The last Lecomte winner to make a dent came in 2013, when Oxbow went on to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness, and ran second in the Belmont. Three other horses earned Derby qualifying points: second-place Hog Creek Hustle got 4, third-place Manny Wah got 2, and fourth-place Wicked Indeed picked up 1. Hog Creek Hustle had performed well as a one-run closing sprinter three times and here rallied effectively in a route race. Jockey Florent Geroux said that while the winner was getting away, he was stuck behind tiring horses. Manny Wah lit off for the front end after breaking from post 12, briefly took the lead when pacesetting Malpais stopped following a 49.22-second half-mile split and stayed on solidly for third. Plus Que Parfait, second by a neck last out in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, finished fifth, beaten a neck for fourth, from a wide post. Chase the Ghost was just behind him in sixth; the other six were considerably farther back. :: WIN A TRIP TO THE QUEEN'S PLATE: Click here to cast your vote for the 2018 Horse of the Year contest, and be entered to win a trip for two to the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine! Mr. Money was scratched after getting sick Friday. Admire, who drew post 14, didn’t ship from Florida, while also-eligible West Texas also was scratched. The race was run under fairly intense conditions, with a cold front rushing through the area following a line of storms that hit the track around 11 a.m. The main track was sealed and rated “good” early in the card before being harrowed and upgraded mid-program. The wind was howling a steady 30 miles per hour during the Lecomte, blowing into the horses as they ran down the backstretch. Casse evidently wasn’t the only confident one, as War of Will was crushed in the win pool and paid a mere $5.20 to win. War of Will finished second in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes and was a close fifth in the BC Juvenile Turf while still a maiden before Casse made the surface switch. The colt, by War Front out of Visions of Clarity, by Sadler’s Wells (a turf pedigree through and through) got a brief spell at Casse’s farm in Florida before being shipped in December to Casse’s Fair Grounds division, overseen by former trainer David Carroll. Casse said it’s likely War of Will will make his next start Feb. 16 in the Risen Star Stakes. The colt stumbled slightly at the start Saturday, had to make an athletic move just off heels around the first turn, and looked like he’d run through a brick wall while just permitting Gaffalione to settle him. The jockey still grinned wide 15 minutes after the race. He had just sat on a very nice 3-year-old who apparently really is a dirt horse.