Casse Racing

May 4, 2017

Will Classic Empire prove to be Mark Casse’s work of genius?

By: Bob Ehalt Will Classic Empire prove to be Mark Casse’s work of genius? Bringing home the champion: Mark Casse with Classic Empire and Julien Leparoux after the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November. Photo: Zoe Metz/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders’ Cup A little more than a week ago, Mark Casse was among the seven nominees who failed to gain the necessary votes to enter Thoroughbred racing’s Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York. Now, on the first Saturday in May, the 56-year-old Casse will get a chance to prove the voters wrong. Casse, who...

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May 3, 2017

The News

The long two-block journey to the Kentucky Derby

By: Pat Forde LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The rows of small, wooden-frame houses with tiny lawns and chain-link fences on Dresden Avenue are just a block from Churchill Downs. On that narrow street you can hear the crowds, see the lights during night racing – and if the wind is blowing south, you might even smell the horse manure from the barn area. Yet they’re a million miles away from the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. Derby dreams that percolate in the hardscrabble South End neighborhood that borders America’s most famous racetrack...

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April 19, 2017

The News

Thoroughbred trainer Mark Casse is riding high

By Carlos E. Medina Ocala’s Mark Casse won the Sovereign Award for the top thoroughbred trainer in Canada for an unprecedented ninth time on Friday and a day later watched his charge, Classic Empire, become the likely Kentucky Derby favorite after a win in the Arkansas Derby. This year was Casse’s sixth straight title as top trainer. With the win, he surpassed Roger Attfield, who also has won eight Sovereign trainer awards. The Sovereign Awards are Canada’s premier thoroughbred racing and breeding awards. Casse said it never becomes commonplace to...

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April 18, 2017

The News

Sovereign Awards: Caren, Casse, Adena Lead the Night

The Jockey Club of Canada announced its 42nd Annual Sovereign Award winners April 14 at The Palais Royale in Toronto, Ontario. The Sovereign Awards are Canada's premier award for Thoroughbred racing and breeding. Horse of the Year was Robert Marzilli's Caren, a 3-year-old daughter of Society's Chairman out of the Vilzak mare Jo Zak who also took home honors for top 3-year-old filly. Bred by James and Janeane Everatt and Arika Everatt-Meeuse and trained by Michael De Paulo, the bay filly won the Ontario Colleen Stakes (G3), Carotene...

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March 10, 2017

The News

Casse, Castellano among 2017 Hall of Fame Finalists

Eight-time Sovereign Award winning trainer Mark Casse and four-time Eclipse Award-winning rider Javier Castellano are among five jockeys, three trainers and three racehorses that have been tabbed as finalists for the National Museum of Racing’s 2017 Hall of Fame class. Fellow finalists named in a Wednesday morning announcement include jockeys Robby Albarado, Victor Espinoza, Craig Perret and the late Garrett Gomez; trainers John Shirreffs and David Whiteley; and racehorses Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat), Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa) and Kona Gold (Java Gold). Casse, Castellano, Albarado, Shirreffs, Gio...

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February 4, 2017

The News

Uncharted Territory for Team Casse

By Alan Carasso The hits just keep on coming for trainer Mark Casse. An eight-time Sovereign Award-winning trainer in Canada and an inductee into the country’s racing hall of fame in 2016, the 55-year-old horseman trained a pair of champions south of the border last year and was, for the first time, among the finalists for America’s champion trainer. One mountain Team Casse has yet to climb is Classic success, a trend they will hope to change with Eclipse Award winner Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile), who kicks...

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January 20, 2017

The News

Down the Shedrow with Mark Casse

By Christie DeBernardis With 235 wins, 26 of which were graded stakes victories with eight of those being Grade Is, and $17.95-million in earnings, Mark Casse had a career-best year in 2016 to say the least. A new addition to Canada’s Racing Hall of Fame in 2016, the 55-year-old, who is a six-time Sovereign Award winner, was nominated for his first Eclipse Award following his stellar 2016 season. Even if he doesn’t take home top trainer honors at the Eclipse ceremony Saturday night, the conditioner is still very likely to...

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January 6, 2017

The News

2016 Eclipse Awards: Mark Casse

Byron King Trainer Mark Casse has long been a fixture at the Sovereign Awards ceremony for Canada’s leading trainer, winning eight times. Now, he joins the Eclipse Award ceremony as a finalist for North American’s outstanding trainer of 2016. Casse’s horses made more than $17.9 million in North America last year, placing him third by earnings behind trainers Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher, with a tally that shortchanged him to some extent. Casse won races in America and Canada last year, but also in Britain, when his star grass...

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December 22, 2016

The News

Trial By Fire: Tepin’s Achievements Help Prepare Casse For KY Derby Run With Classic Empire

Mark Casse has had a successful career training Thoroughbred racehorses for over 30 years, and during that time, has conditioned numerous champions and won several Sovereign Awards. The 55-year-old Casse is wrapping up his most successful career yet, with his horses having compiled earnings of $17,540,438. The star of the Casse stable no doubt is Tepin, the 2015 Eclipse Award champion turf mare and six-time G1 winner. Casse appears to have another potential star in his barn in the 2-year-old colt Classic Empire. The son of Pioneerof the Nile...

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December 22, 2016

The News

Casse Barn Loaded With Star Power

The Mark Casse barn has made its winter home at the Palm Meadows training facility in South Florida and has started initial preparations for a very exciting 2017 mnsidering the star power under the veteran trainer’s tutelage; standout horses in the barn are grade 1 winners Classic Empire, Pretty City Dancer and Tepin. Other notable runners include Valadorna, Thirstforlife and Our Stormin Norman, just to name a few. John Oxley’s Classic Empire, to start off, is the current winter book favorite for the 2017 Kentucky Derby (GI) following...

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