WAR FRONT’s stakes placed Hammerhead added a stakes victory to his resume on Saturday when he won the Valedictory S. (G3) at Woodbine to end his year.
Breaking from one of the inner gates in the 1 ½ mile synthetic race, Hammerhead took a rail spot before splitting the field in midpack a few lengths behind the leader. Switched a few paths off the rail the first time down the front stretch, he moved up a few lengths to wait loom large behind the leader.
Keen to run, Daisuke Fukumoto let him challenge the leader down the backstretch and that one quickly gave in. Hammerhead didn’t extend his lead until they entered the turn, but he quickly opened a few lengths at that stage. The field closed in down the stretch, but Hammerhead was safely clear and won by a length in the end.
Trained by Kevin Attard, the Gold Square representative now has eight top three finishes in 13 starts for $207,795 in earnings.
Bred by Glen Hill Farm, Hammerhead is one of two winners from three to race out of the stakes winning Figarella’s Queen. That mare is one of five winners out of her own Grade 1 winning dam Nereid. Figarella’s Queen is now an eighth-generation stakes producer with Hammerhead’s victory.
The mare also has a WAR FRONT juvenile named Mount Sopris as well.
WAR FRONT has sired five stakes winners and eight stakes performers in 2025, led by the Grade 1 winning Fort Washington and two other graded stakes winners.