Mark Casse approaching his 4,000th career win in North America

• Mark Casse approaching his 4,000th career win in North America
• Excellent Truth wins Brown’s 10th G1 Dunkin’ Diana, next race undecided
• Far Bridge targets G1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer off G2 Bowling Green stroll
• Gun Song a live contender in G2 Shuvee
• Minaret Station targets G1 Saratoga Derby Inv.
• Good Cheer breezes for G1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales

 
Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has 3,996 wins in North America heading into Sunday’s racing action with 16 horses entered across four tracks as he chases the significant career milestone.

Casse, who will send out Augustinian in Race 6 here today at Saratoga Race Course, took a moment to reflect this morning while watching horses train on the Spa main track about the significance of the pending achievement.

“It means I'm old,” said Casse, with a laugh. “I've been doing this a long time. Who would have thought - 4,000. The first 1,000 was much tougher than the next 3,000 because we just didn't have the numbers. Going into the Hall of Fame meant I'd been good for a long time and that's probably what this milestone means.”

Casse is supported by a vast team that includes his wife Tina, who is CEO of Casse Racing, as well as his New York-based assistant, Shane Tripp, along with U.S.-based assistants Nick Tomlinson-Alleyne, Allen Hardy, Omar Delcid Sanchez and Caden Arthur. His Canadian team includes Head Assistant Trainer David Adams, as well as the three Sullivan sisters – Kathryn, Nancy and Sarah. In addition, his Casse Training Center in Ocala, Florida, includes a number of important colleagues in Mitch Downs, Cindy Black and Jimmy Miranda.

“It’s truly a team,” Casse said. “I have 10 people that have been with me 35-plus years. Mitch Downs has been with me 45 years. A lot of the time I get the accolades, but without them it doesn't happen.

“It’s not just about winning,” he added. “It’s seeing all the hard work by all of us and appreciating that. If you go to our farm in Ocala, 90 percent of them watch all the races. Everyone is invested. It's truly a team and we do it together.”

The 64-year-old native of Indianapolis, Indiana, has enjoyed success across the continent and is amongst a unique group of four trainers that includes Roger Attfield, Lucien Laurin and Horatio Luro to be enshrined in both the United States’ National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Casse, son of the late horseman Norman Casse, won with his first starter, Joe’s Coming, on April 14, 1979, at Keeneland and nine years later won his first training title at the 1988 Churchill Downs’ spring meet.

“I never wanted to do anything else. When everybody else was trying to figure that out - I never had to. I always knew what I wanted to do,” Casse said.

He captured two-thirds of the U.S. Triple Crown in 2019, taking the Grade 1 Preakness with War of Will before upsetting the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes with Sir Winston – a horse that exemplifies the patience and persistence of Casse’s training program.

A Kentucky homebred for Tracy Farmer, Sir Winston did not show much in his first two outings as a 2-year-old in 2018 when off the board in maiden races at Churchill and Saratoga. Casse sent the Awesome Again chestnut to Woodbine where he immediately graduated and began to thrive, winning the Listed Display that December.

Sir Winston tried the Kentucky Derby trail in Florida before redirecting to New York and running second in the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Belmont Park – the local prep for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. He went to post at odds of 10-1 in the Belmont Stakes with Hall of Famer Joel Rosario at the helm, finding a seam through traffic and finishing powerfully down the lane to best Tacitus by one length.

“I don't give up easy,” Casse said. “Sir Winston got beat in his first couple of races almost 20 lengths. I took him to Woodbine, and he liked it there. He got some confidence and then he went on and won the Belmont. That was big for me because I felt like I had accomplished something not many can do and that's to not give up.”

Casse has won six Breeders’ Cup races, scoring with Catch a Glimpse [2015 Juvenile Fillies Turf], Tepin [2015 Mile], Classic Empire [2016 Juvenile], World Approval [2017 Mile], Shamrock Rose [2018 Filly and Mare Sprint] and Wonder Wheel [2022 Juvenile Fillies].

Of that group, the Hall of Famer Tepin stands tallest as Casse’s highest earner with more than $4.4 million in purse money from a 13-win career. The dual Champion Grass Mare [2015-16] bested males in both the 2015 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile and the 2016 Group 1 Queen Anne at Royal Ascot. Her career concluded with a half-length defeat to Tourist in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Mile.

“We've had a lot of great horses, but I don't know how you go past Tepin,” Casse said. “She did it everywhere and came to play. Her win at Royal Ascot will go down in history. She just liked to run and nothing ever bothered her.

“Probably the best race she run was when she got beat in the Breeders' Cup by Tourist,” Casse continued. “She got put out of her element and she still almost won. Tourist cut the corner, and we went around. I've come to appreciate her even more now as we see all these horses try to go and run at Royal Ascot - she did it on their terms and on their strengths.”

Casse has dominated the trainer standings in Canada where he has topped the training tables at Woodbine on 16 occasions and is a 16-time winner of the Sovereign Award for Outstanding Trainer. He has trained Canada’s Horse of the Year on six occasions, including with Sealy Hill [2007], Uncaptured [2012], Lexie Lou [2014], Catch a Glimpse [2015], Wonder Gadot [2018] and Fev Rover [2023].

“Without my wife I would be in no Hall of Fames and without Woodbine I would be in no Hall of Fames,” Casse said. “That's how important Woodbine and Toronto is to me, and it continues to be. Woodbine is the best place to develop a horse. They have a wonderful training facility, the weather is nice and if you look at my Eclipse winners, my Breeders’ Cup winners, most of them have a footprint through Woodbine. When I’m bringing back old warriors, I send them through Woodbine.”

Big earners for Casse include World Approval [27-12-2-4, $3,062,363], Classic Empire [9-5-1-1, $2,520,220] and the popular chestnut mare Got Stormy [32-12-5-3, $2,468,403], who bested males in the Spa’s Grade 1 Fourstardave in 2019 and 2021.

Casse said that Classic Empire, the 2016 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt, proved to be one of his biggest challenges as a trainer and nearly became the horse to provide him with the one major race he truly wants to win – the Kentucky Derby.

Owned by John C. Oxley, Classic Empire flashed brilliance with a rallying score at second asking in the 2016 Grade 3 Bashford Manor at Churchill. The quirky colt, who was known to stop short in morning training, returned to action as the favorite in the Grade 1 Hopeful at the end of the Spa meet and promptly wheeled outwards, sending jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. flying. Undaunted, his next two starts were Grade 1 scores under Julien Leparoux in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita Park.

“My toughest task as a horse trainer was probably Classic Empire,” Casse said. “He came out of the gate in the Hopeful, took a right-hand turn and lost Irad. During the winter he wouldn't train. It's tough to get ready for the Kentucky Derby when your horse won't go.

“We finally got him going and he ended up winning the Arkansas Derby,” Casse continued. “He should have won the Kentucky Derby, but he got wiped out. That was before they had one gate, and he was in the 14 hole - they all came down on him because of that big space between the gates. It almost knocked Julien out of the saddle.”

Classic Empire landed fourth in the Derby, was second, by a head, to Cloud Computing in the Preakness and did not make the Belmont Stakes due to a hoof abscess that ultimately led to his retirement.

Gary Barber’s War of Will is another that nearly brought Casse an elusive Derby win. The War Front bay won the Grade 3 Risen Star in February 2019 at Fair Grounds and after an off-the-board effort there in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, he went to post at odds of 16-1 in the ‘Run for the Roses’ with regular pilot Tyler Gaffalione up.

War of Will exited the inside post in a field of 19 and saved ground in a close-up fourth through the far turn as Maximum Security showed the way. Gaffalione angled War of Will off the rail to the outside of Maximum Security with what looked like a winning move – but the pacesetter drifted out and War of Will checked hard on heels, his momentum stopped. War of Will fought on gamely down the lane but weakened late and crossed the wire a 4 1/2-length eighth, elevated to seventh when Maximum Security was disqualified for the interference.

Casse watched the drama unfold with his son, trainer Norm Casse, as a shot at victory evaporated in a matter of seconds.

“Norman was standing with me, and they were in the middle of the turn and he put his arm around me and said, 'dad, you're going to win the Kentucky Derby' and then Maximum Security took us out about 100 yards later,” lamented Casse. ”I've been very fortunate in my life. If I don't win the Kentucky Derby, I'll be alright.”

And yet, he’s going to keep on trying to fulfill that dream with no immediate plans to retire from the sport he loves.

“I told my wife recently I’m going to retire at 5,000 wins and she said, ‘I've heard that story before, and I don't believe it for one second!” said Casse, with a laugh.
 

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Excellent Truth wins Brown’s 10th G1 Dunkin’ Diana, next race undecided

Resolute Racing’s Excellent Truth outdueled post-time favorite She Feels Pretty late to land her first top-level victory while securing trainer Chad Brown a record-extending 10th score in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Dunkin’ Diana, a nine-furlong Mellon turf test for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course.

The five-time Eclipse Award-winning Brown was thrilled to see Excellent Truth break through in her third start for him. She was previously a close second at the top-level in the Jenny Wiley in April at Keeneland and the Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing last out on June 6 here to stablemate Dynamic Pricing, who finished third in the Diana.

Piloted by Flavien Prat on Saturday, Excellent Truth stuck close to the pacesetting Choisya while multiple Grade 1-winner She Feels Pretty stalked in third. After three-quarters in 1:12.16 on the good turf, the real running began between the top trio, with Excellent Truth sandwiched between rivals. Excellent Truth put her head in front of She Feels Pretty in a thrilling stretch duel in a final time of 1:47.37.

“That was a very courageous performance,” said Brown, who won his ninth Diana in the past 10 years. “I’m so proud of her, with the way she battled back and showed a lot of heart. She got a really good trip – she got bumped a little bit in the lane – but outside of that, she got a good trip and she’s been a very consistent horse. You could argue with a little better racing luck, she could’ve won all three of her starts here.

“If she had, I think everyone would be viewing her as a clear leader of the division. I still think she is a slight leader of the division, with a heads up win there just now, but I view her as a horse that easily could’ve been undefeated so far, at three different distances. She is a remarkable talent, and I’m not surprised, she has always trained super,” Brown continued.

Brown confirmed the 5-year-old Cotai Glory dark bay exited the win in good order, but a next race is undecided, adding that she is doubtful to contest the upcoming local option in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Ballston Spa on August 8. A later Spa option is the 11-furlong Grade 2 Flower Bowl on August 30, which awards a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar.

“I think it [the Ballston Spa] is too tight. I can’t see any scenario where I wheel her back in that race,” said Brown.

Brown added that Klaravich Stables’ Dynamic Pricing, a closing 4 1/2-length third, may be due for a cutback in distance.

“The turf was to her liking, but I think with the pace, those two horses sprinted home. Additionally, my reservation with her stretching out was the pace gets a little softer and it might dilute her kick just a touch. I was happy she got up for third,” Brown said.

Among near-future stakes action for Brown is Klaravich Stables' Strategic Focus, who is pointed to the nine-furlong Listed Curlin, restricted to sophomore non-winners of a graded stakes at one-mile or over in 2025, on July 24 here.

“I’m very impressed with that horse’s development. He is heading to the Curlin,” said Brown, who confirmed that race will separate the lightly-raced Gun Runner chestnut from Hill Road’s possible start in the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun on July 26 here.

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Far Bridge targets G1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer off G2 Bowling Green stroll

LSU Stables’ multiple Grade 1-winner Far Bridge was a facile winner of Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Bowling Green at Saratoga Race Course, taking the 1 3/8-mile inner turf route by three lengths under regular Hall of Fame rider Joel Rosario.

Trainer Miguel Clement said he was pleased with how Far Bridge exited the race as he now sets his sights on a title defense in the Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer on August 9 here. The Sword Dancer offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf in November at Del Mar.

“He’s sound and in good order, and I’m delighted with him,” Clement said. “He handles all adversity, obstacles and challenges. He was enjoying himself, which I love to see, and his ears were pricked up. He’s enjoying life and it’s great. He and Joel have a great relationship, and we’re off to the Sword Dancer.”

The 5-year-old English Channel bay has now won nearly every major long-distance turf race in New York, adding to past success in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational as a sophomore, a pair of Grade 1s in last year’s Sword Dancer here and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont at the Big A, and the Grade 2 Man o’ War in May. He finished third in both the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational as a sophomore, and the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan in his start prior to the Bowling Green.

In all, Far Bridge boasts over $2.3 million in total purse earnings from a 18-9-3-3 record. He was bred in Kentucky by Calumet Farm.

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Gun Song a live contender in G2 Shuvee

R. Lee Lewis’ graded stakes-winner Gun Song is in search of her second career Grade 2 conquest in Friday’s $200,000 Shuvee, a nine-furlong route for older fillies and mares, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Mark Hennig, the 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner was last seen finishing an even second under regular Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez in the 1 1/16-mile Obeah on June 14 at Delaware Park, where she tracked the pacesetting Malibu Beauty throughout and finished three lengths behind her.

The effort was her best this year, and came on the heels of distant finishes going one mile when third in an optional claiming tilt in March at Gulfstream Park and sixth in the Grade 2 Ruffian in May at Belmont at the Big A.

“It was one of those situations where that horse likes that track,” Hennig said of Malibu Beauty, who holds a 16-6-3-2 record at Delaware and is also entered in the Shuvee. “It’s a little dangerous to leave her alone up there. I’ll let Johnny figure it out. It all depends on the break. There’s some pace, but she’s always pretty forward.

“We had some foot issues she was dealing with earlier in the year, but she seems to be doing better lately, so that’s a good sign,” Hennig added.

Hennig said he is pleased with the way Gun Song has trained since the Obeah, and that he also plans to enter the chestnut in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Molly Pitcher slated for Saturday at Monmouth Park.

“She’s doing well up here and has had a nice couple of breezes here. We’ll probably cross-enter in the Molly Pitcher and take a look at that, too,” Hennig said. “She’s training well here, so I wouldn’t mind running over this track. We’ll look at weather, conditions, post, the field… a lot can change. I don’t know how many will enter there. We just have to see how the other race shapes up. We don’t have Johnny I don’t think if we go to Monmouth, so we’d have to figure that out.”

Gun Song looks to add to a resume that includes a win in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan last year at Pimlico Race Course, as well as a narrow second to subsequent Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx Racing. She has banked $766,220 through a 14-4-5-2 record.

Velazquez is named to ride Gun Song from post 2-of-7 in the Shuvee.

Hennig recently sent out the New York-bred mare Spinning Colors to a hard-fought runner-up finish in the second of two divisions of the restricted Listed De La Rose on July 10 at the Spa. The daughter of Hard Spun set the pace under Velazquez and dug in gamely down the lane, but was caught late by Ozara while a neck better than Movin’ On Up in a blanket finish.

Spinning Colors, co-owned by Hennig with Bourbon Lane Stable and HGS Thoroughbreds, was a strong winner of the state-bred 1 1/16-mile Mount Vernon two starts back at Saratoga, and Hennig said she will return to state-bred company next in the $150,000 Yaddo presented by STIHL on August 22 here.

“That was a tough beat,” Hennig said. “It was some more black type, and she’s a pretty solid mare. She loves it at Saratoga for sure, so we’ll just wait for the Yaddo most likely.”

Bred in the Empire State by William Parsons, Jr. and David Howe, Spinning Colors holds a 15-5-3-1 record with $389,210 in earnings.

Hennig also provided an update on the stakes-placed Cat Chat, who was nominated to the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on Saturday at the Spa but was injured following a half-mile workout on the Spa main track on July 11.

“She got hurt and is going to be retired,” Hennig said. “She got surgery and she’s fine, but unfortunately it was career-ending. She’s got some pedigree and got some black type in that last race, so we’ll make her a mama. I was very relieved that she’ll be OK.”

A $325,000 purchase at last year’s OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Cat Chat’s last effort was a third in the restricted Listed Wilton on June 22 at Belmont at the Big A. The daughter of Flatter is out of the winning Unbridled’s Song mare Warm Sunshine, who also produced graded stakes-winner Steal Sunshine.

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Minaret Station targets G1 Saratoga Derby Inv.

OXO Equine’s talented sophomore Minaret Station is being pointed towards the Grade 1, $750,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational, a 1 3/16-mile turf test for sophomores on August 2 at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Will Walden, the son of Instilled Regard won the Grade 2 Bourbon in October at Keeneland and was entered in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in November at Del Mar, but was scratched and had the winter off in preparation for his sophomore campaign. He returned with aplomb on June 28 at Churchill Downs, stalking and pouncing to a half-length win in the Listed American Derby traveling 1 1/16 miles.

“He’s doing great. I’m really excited about him,” Walden said. “It was a long layoff having the winter off. We targeted that spot [American Derby] from the moment he stepped foot in Keeneland in April. We were lucky that we didn’t have any hiccups along the way.”

Minaret Station posted a half-mile work on Friday over the Saratoga main track, covering the distance in 49.65 seconds in his first career breeze at the Spa.

“He’s still a big baby, figuring all this out,” Walden said. “He’s getting better, and his confidence level is really high. He’s a happy horse and he’s doing well. We’re aiming for the Saratoga Derby and we’re excited about it.”

A Kentucky homebred for OXO Equine, Minaret Station is out of the multiple graded stakes-winning Sir Prancealot mare Beau Recall. The consistent colt is 3-for-4 lifetime with $377,968 in total purse earnings.

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Good Cheer breezes for G1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales

Godolphin’s Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks-winning homebred Good Cheer breezed a half-mile in 50 3/5 seconds, according to NYRA Clockers, on Sunday over the Saratoga Race Course main track as she prepares for the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales on August 16 at the Spa.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the Medaglia d’Oro bay was 7-for-7 before a last-out fifth in the nine-furlong Grade 1 DK Horse Acorn on June 6 here. She completed her second breeze back on Sunday as she looks to get back in the win column later in the summer meet.

“She just went a nice smooth half-mile from the three-eighths pole,” said Blake Cox, on-site for the breeze as the assistant trainer to his father Brad. “We kept her off the rail. I believe she worked in 50 [seconds], which is exactly what we wanted her to do. We have plenty of time until the Alabama, and in the next few weeks, we’ll start asking her to do more.”

Blake Cox added that the Good Cheer’s last-out fifth to La Cara over the sloppy and sealed main track was puzzling, but she seems to be doing well since.

“I don’t really know about the Acorn, that was just a flat effort, and we can’t really come up with an excuse,” said Cox. “You could tell on the backside that she wasn’t traveling well, but hopefully she comes back to her old self in the Alabama.”

Good Cheer has earned over $1.7 million and is in the conversation for Champion 3-Year-Old Filly through her Kentucky Oaks score, and 2025 Grade 2 scores in the Rachel Alexandra and Fair Grounds Oaks at Fair Grounds.