Team Casse Thrives Together

By Alicia Hughes If there is a commonality that stretches across most major racing jurisdictions in North America, it is that evidence of Mark Casse’s Hall of Fame career can be found at nearly every locale where significant accolades are earned. At Toronto’s palatial Woodbine oval, the signature red and white signage depicting the presence of Casse Racing has been dominant for so long, the Indiana-born trainer must occasionally remind acquaintances he is not, in fact, a native of Canada. Head down to New York, stopover in Kentucky, drive...

Renegade Rebel holds off Ryder Ryder Ryder in Mazarine Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Renegade Rebel gave trainer Mark Casse his ninth win in the Grade 3 Mazarine Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine when she beat out her stablemate, Ryder Ryder Ryder, who was probably best in the 1 1/16-mile route for 2-year-old fillies. Over a speed-favoring Tapeta surface, Renegade Rebel ($4.30) shook loose on the early lead and set moderate fractions with second-choice Honor D Lady chasing her all the way. Renegade Rebel had a three-length lead until she began to weaken inside the eighth pole. Ryder Ryder Ryder,...

Barn Tour: Wonder Wheel Leads Casse’s Promising Juveniles

Hall of Fame Trainer Mark Casse has a likely Eclipse Winner in his barn after Wonder Wheel won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies last weekend. But she's not his only talented young filly. Casse told Horse Racing Nation this week that "we have six or seven fillies that have the potential to go on and be nice horses." But first, Wonder Wheel. The daughter of Into Mischief is 4-for-5 this year, with the loss coming in a second-place finish in the Spinaway (G2) at Saratoga. She led gate to wire in the...

Wonder Wheel Rolls to Victory in BC Juvenile Fillies

By Tim Wilkin  All summer long, at Saratoga Race Course, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse talked about a young filly named Wonder Wheel whenever he could. If you listened to Casse's Wonder Wheel spiel long enough as summer slowly turned to fall, you would swear this 2-year-old baby was about to become the second coming of Ruffian. On a glorious Nov. 4 afternoon that felt more like the first Friday of July than the first one in November, Casse could breathe easy.  All the stumping he did for the daughter of Into Mischief...

Souper Hoity Toity Wins Stake at Woodbine

Souper Hoity Toity Takes the Ontario Damsel Stakes Souper Hoity Toity, ridden by Patrick Husbands, took the $127,250 Ontario Damsel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, contested at 1 1/16 miles over Woodbine's Tapeta.    After lively opening splits of:23.86 and:47.93 set by Crystal Ship , Souper Hoity Toity, the 1-5 choice, assumed command just after the stretch call and won by a half-length in a time of 1:43.44. Love to Run was second and Crystal Ship finished third.  "I was getting the perfect trip," Husbands said. "I put her in the clear by the three-eighths...

Belmont Winner Sir Winston Retires

Mark Casse and Sir Winston Classic Sir Winston (Awesome Again–La Gran Bailadora, by Afleet Alex) has retired from racing and will stand stud next year at Pope McLean's Crestwood Farm. The Tracy Farmer homebred is out of the Grade-III winning and Grade-I placed mare La Gran Bailadora. “Sir Winston showed us incredible talent right from the start and we think his progeny will do the same,” said Farmer. “We will be supporting him both with mares in the breeding shed as well as in the sales ring down the road.” A stakes...

Mark Casse, Ron Moquett, Graham Motion Among Members Of HISA’s New Horsemen’s Advisory Group

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has announced the members of its Horsemen's Advisory Group, who were selected from among the more than 250 applications received from hands-on racing participants from across the country. Starting in November, the Advisory Group will convene on a monthly basis to provide feedback to the Authority's executive team and Standing Committees on the implementation and evolution of HISA's Racetrack Safety and Anti-Doping and Medication Control regulations. Following HISA's announcement of the Advisory Group's formation on August 29, HISA chose 19 members...

Wonder Wheel Edges Chop Chop in Alcibiades

Clearview Stable's Wonder Gal was a precious juvenile for trainer Leah Gyarmati, a stakes winner during the filly's initial season in 2014 and the third-place finisher in that year's 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita Park. Now her daughter, the Mark Casse-trained Wonder Wheel, has a date in the same race, taking place at Keeneland on Nov. 4. Racing at Keeneland on Oct. 7 on the opening day of the track's fall meet, the D. J. Stable-owned filly earned a paid, automatic berth in the race by lasting for a...

New Hall of Famer Mark Casse Joins Writers’ Room

Fresh off of a year-delayed induction into racing's Hall of Fame Friday, Mark Casse joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning for an expansive discussion on his career and the sport at large. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Casse reflected on his family's growing legacy in the sport, remembered arguably his most famous pupil Tepin (Bernstein) and assessed where the industry stands on stamping out its drug problems. Asked about the emotion of his Hall of Fame speech, Casse said, “[Racing]...