Will's Way, whose battles with Formal Goldand Skip Awaywere among the highlights of the 1997 racing season, has been pensioned from stallion duty and has taken up residence at Old Friends equine retirement center near Georgetown, Ky. The 15-year-old son of Easy Goer first stood for a syndicate at Fred Seitz' Brookdale Farm near Versailles, Ky., and then at Dr. William Solomon's Pin Oak Lane Farm near New Freedom, Pa. Brookdale arranged the transfer to Old Friends.
"We really wanted him because he was such an exciting racehorse," said Old Friends president Michael Blowen. "I saw him win the Whitney (gr. I) at Saratoga."
In the 1997 Whitney, Will's Way prevailed by a nose over Formal Gold, with Skip Away finishing third. The top two finishers each earned extraordinary 126 Beyer Speed Figures.
A year earlier at the Spa, Will's Way won the Travers Stakes (gr. I) over Preakness (gr. I) winner Louis Quatorzeand Skip Away.
In his career, Will's Way won or placed in 11 of 13 races and earned $954,400 for Rudlein Stable, owned by William Clifton Jr. and Don and Anne Rudder. He was trained by H. James Bond.
"His owners and the syndicate made a sizable contribution to Old Friends that went for paying for a new paddock, a run-in shed, and a waterer," Blowen said.
As a stallion, Will's Way is represented by five stakes winners, 11 stakes-placed runners, and the earners of $5.9 million. His richest runner, millionaire Lion Tamer, scored his biggest win in the 2004 Cigar Mile Handicap (gr. I). He stands at Clear Creek Stud near Folsom, La.
Will's Way was bred in Kentucky by Robert Quinichett and produced from the Tentam mare Willamae.
