Trainer Mark Casse to saddle seven Breeders’ Cup contenders this weekend

Veteran trainer Mark Casse has been a fixture lately at Santa Anita Park, keeping tabs on the seven horses he’ll run in this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup.

Not only does that mean monitoring and evaluating workouts, but also making sure all is well in the respective stalls so the throughbreds are happy and stress-free heading into their respective races.

There’s also numerous media sessions and various functions that only add to an already busy schedule leading up to the start of racing Friday.

“There’s good and bad to it,” Casse said from Arcadia, Calif., of having seven Breeders’ Cup starters. “When you have one, you only have one to worry about but when you have seven, you have seven to worry about.

“It’s not so much the workload because at this point in time everything has to go right, and for everything to go right with seven horses is not usually possible. But hey, believe me, I’m not complaining. I’m very happy with where I’m at.”

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And with good reason. Five of Casse’s Cup starters have to potential to be among the top three or four choices in their races, including heralded mare Tepin, the 2016 Woodbine Mile champion who’s the early 3-1 favourite in the US$2-million Breeders’ Cup Mile on Saturday.

The brilliant five-year-old has six wins and a second-place finish in seven starts this year for over US$1.6 million in earnings. But Tepin had her eight-race win streak snapped by Photo Call in the Grade 1 US$400,000 First Lady Stakes last month at Keeneland.

“She was pretty tired after the Woodbine Mile, which we expected,” Casse said. “We knew in our hearts she was probably going to have a little bit of a down race in her next start.

“We could’ve gone from the Mile straight into the Breeders’ Cup but ultimately I thought that would hurt us, I didn’t think she could be at her best so that’s why we (ran in First Lady). As it turns out, the horse we thought we had to beat (third-place finisher Celestine) we did beat. It’s just the other filly ran great.”

Tepin won last year’s Cup Mile by 2 1/4 lengths over of ’15 Woodbine Mile champion Mondialiste, earning Casse his second Breeders’ Cup victory. He earned his first with Catch a Glimpse — Canada’s 2015 horse of the year — in the $1-million Juvenile Fillies, snapping an 0-for-25 Cup drought.

Catch a Glimpse is an early 12-1 longshot in the $2-million Filly and Mare Turf race Saturday.

Casse, eight times Canada’s top trainer and a 2016 inductee into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, wants to win every race he’s involved in. But he admits last year’s Breeders’ Cup success has taken some of the pressure off heading into the weekend.

“It was a big monkey off my back,” he said. “It gives you a different status, I believe.”

That’s because a Breeders’ Cup win not only reaffirms a trainer has great horses, but also that he knows how to manage and prepare them to excel on the sport’s biggest stage.

Two other Casse horses — Valadorna and Classic Empire — are also garnering attention. Valadorna is the 5-1 second pick behind 9-2 favourite Noted and Quotes in the $2-million Juvenile Fillies event while Classic Empire is listed at 4-1 odds, just behind 7-2 favourite Not This Time in the $2-million Juvenile.

“Valadorna is highly regarded and rightfully so,” Casse said. “If she shows improvement again in this start, she could be the horse to beat I think.

“Classic Empire is as good as any of them. It’s a very tough race but he’s a tough horse.”

Casse’s other horses include Keep Quiet ($1-million Juvenile Turf, 12-1 odds), La Coronel and Victory to Victory (9-1 odds and 12-1 odds, respectively, in the $1-million Juvenile Fillies Turf).

Despite his impressive stable, Casse isn’t assuming anything.

“Right now I’m not even worried about winning, I’m just worried about having all seven stay healthy and happy and get to their races,” he said. “On the day of the race, I never, ever take for granted or think I’m going to win.

“I do look at it and say, ‘Do I think I have a legitimate chance to win?’ I will do that.”

And wherever Casse, an Indiana native, goes, he always remembers his roots.

“It’s been a long road,” he said. “And I can tell you I wouldn’t have ever got there without Woodbine Racetrack, Canada and Toronto.

“Although I’m not Canadian, I’ve always taken it very seriously to try and represent Woodbine and Canada and Toronto well. I’ve always wanted to do Woodbine and Canada and Toronto proud.”

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press