Five horses that have run for trainer Mark Casse have been named Horse of the Year in Canada.
He is hoping to get a sixth this year.
Casse, a Hall of Famer in the United States and Canada, is aiming for a major Canadian trophy for his 5-year-old mare Fev Rover , who is coming off a win last weekend in the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) at Colonial Downs.
Casse said Aug. 17 that the next stop for Fev Rover will be the CA$200,000 Canadian Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine Sept. 9. If all goes well there, the daughter of Gutaifan would point to the CA$750,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T), also at Woodbine, Oct. 8.
The season would conclude for the Tracy Farmer-owned mare in the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park.
Fev Rover has two wins in three starts this season. She also won Nassau Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine July 1 before finishing third to the Chad Brown-trained Whitebeam and In Italian in the Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course July 15.
To be eligible to be a Canadian Horse of the Year, it is required that a horse race at least three times in Canada during a given year. The last Canadian Horse of the Year to come out of Casse’s barn was Wonder Gadot in 2018.
Casse said Fev Rover is in Saratoga and will ship to Woodbine next week.
Running in the Beverly D. was not on the radar, Casse said, until after she ran in the Diana.
“I wasn’t 100% sure how she fit in with the better fillies in this country,” Casse said at the Saratoga backstretch. “She is a different horse than she was last year, a much better horse.”
Casse said when Fev Rover first came to his barn, she weighed about 1,050 pounds; he says she is over 1,200 now.
He is so impressed with the progression of Fev Rover, Casse has gone so far to compare her to the mighty Tepin , the American champion female turf horse in 2015 and 2016 and a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s class of 2022 as well as the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame class of 2020.
Overall, Fev Rover has five wins, four seconds and three thirds in 17 starts for career earnings of $948,776.
“Tepin was kind of a bull and she is a bull as well,” Casse said. “(Fev Rover) still has a lot to prove but the one similarity is that they both thrive on racing. She is the real deal.”
Pretty Mischievous to Stretch Out Again in Cotillion
It may have seemed surprising when Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Pretty Mischievous showed up in the entries for the seven-furlong Test Stakes (G1) on Aug. 5 at Saratoga.
Pretty Mischievous wins the Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park
It became much more understandable Aug. 16 when the entries for the 1 1/4-mile Alabama Stakes (G1) at the Spa were announced.
Godolphin, which owns Pretty Mischievous, also owns Wet Paint , the beaten favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks who won the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) in her last start and is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for the Alabama.
After winning the Kentucky Oaks, Pretty Mischievous won the Acorn Stakes (G1) at 1 1/16 miles.
With a pair of 3-year-old fillies that talented, it’s not surprising that a decision was made to keep the two grade 1 winners on separate paths, though no one should expect to see the homebred daughter of Into Mischief in a sprint again.
“Those spots felt like the right move for both fillies. The races were at the right time of the year for them and maybe they can meet at some point later in the year,” said Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA’s director of bloodstock.
Officially, Pretty Mischievous won the Test for a third-straight grade 1 victory, but that happened only because Maple Leaf Mel suffered a fatal injury a few strides from crossing the wire a decisive winner. Knowing that the Brendan Walsh-trained filly was second-best in the Test, the connections are ready to return Pretty Mischievous to two-turn races with the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing on Sept. 23 next on her agenda.
“She came out of the Test in good shape and the timing to the Cotilion is good. It was an unfortunate circumstance but she’s doing well and we found out some things about her,” Banahan said about what turned out to be a victory by a head over 17-1 shot Clearly Unhinged . “We believed she got enough pace at seven furlongs but at the end of the day she was out of her comfort zone the whole way. She doesn’t have seven-furlong speed. You have to tip your hat to her. Even though the race didn’t suit her, she hung in there and gave a good account of herself.
“We won’t do that again. We’ll keep her at a mile and over but we were proud of her. She ran as good of a race as you could expect. Obviously, if the other filly didn’t get hurt we would have been a gallant second.”
Banahan, Walsh, and the rest of the Godolphin team displayed an enormous amount of compassion and class after the Test, saying they did not feel it would be appropriate to have any type of winner’s circle ceremony. The following morning, Walsh then brought the winner’s floral blanket to a grieving Melanie Giddings, Maple Leaf Mel’s trainer.
“It was a very difficult situation and no one was in a mood to celebrate,” Banahan said. “You felt so bad you just wanted to get away from celebrations at that moment. Anyone who was there will not forget that moment for a very long time. (Maple Leaf Mel) was the best filly there. It was a brutal day for everyone connected with the sport.”
Lukas Plans to Run Saratoga Special Runner-Up on Grass
The next stop for Les Wagner’s Market Street could very well be on the grass.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he wants to run his runner-up in the Aug. 12 Saratoga Special Stakes (G3) in the $175,000 With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) on the grass at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 31.
Lukas said he has never worked the son of Street Sense on the grass before nor does he plan to.
Market Street breaks his maiden at Ellis Park
“I feel that the way he runs, he will be ok,” Lukas said Aug. 17 while sitting in his office at the Oklahoma Training Track.
Market Street was bought by Wagner for $275,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling sale. He has run three times. Before coming to Saratoga, he broke his maiden by 3 3/4 lengths at Ellis Park on June 29.
Market Street was sixth in Saratoga’s Sanford Stakes (G2) before the second in the Saratoga Special.
“We’re not smart enough to have a crystal ball to tell us whether they like it or not,” Lukas said about Market Street’s switch to the lawn. “That’s always a conversation among trainers. I always say, ‘I don’t think anyone knows until they try it.”
Another Lukas youngster, Seize the Grey , is entered in the $150,000 Skidmore Stakes, a 5 1/2 furlong sprint on the Mellon Turf course Aug. 18. Seize the Grey, a son of Arrogate owned by MyRacehorse, broke his maiden by 1 3/4 lengths on a sloppy track at Saratoga July 29.
Lukas also said he is pointing BC Stables Just Steel , a maiden winner at the Spa Aug. 5, to the $300,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1) Sept. 4, closing day. Just Steel is a son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify .
Lukas has started 25 horses this meet and has two wins and nine seconds. Thirteen of his starts have been with 2-year-olds and both of his wins have come with the youngsters; he also has five seconds.
Before the meet ends, he hopes to unleash some more babies.
“There a couple of maidens yet to come,” he said.
