'Big E' Holy Bull Bound

Trainer Mark Casse revealed Sunday that, from his numerous 2016 Triple Crown trail candidates, he has elected to point Conquest Big E (Tapit) to Gulfstream's GII Holy Bull S. Jan. 30. “I just think he suits that racetrack a little bit better than some of the others,” Casse noted. Runner-up behind subsequent GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner Brody's Cause (Giant's Causeway) on debut at Churchill in September, Conquest Stable's $700,000 KEESEP yearling buy earned his diploma in the Keeneland slop Oct. 2. Tossed into the deep end in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile later that month, he settled for eighth before bouncing back to take a one-mile Churchill optional claimer Nov. 28. “I just thought he suffered from greenness in the Juvenile,” Casse said. “He's still learning and he was between horses. I thought his last race, when he won at Churchill, he got a lot out of it.” Conquest Big E most recently worked four panels in :48 flat (2/76) at Palm Meadows Saturday. As for Casse's other leading 3-year-olds, GII Kentucky Jockey Club winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Airoforce (Colonel John) will head to Tampa Bay Downs, while Keeneland maiden winner Conquest Windycity (Tiznow) will resurface at Oaklawn. Plans for GIII Bourbon S. third Siding Spring (Warrior's Reward) are still up in the air. “We think we have three or four or five legitimate Derby horses,” Casse added. “But you know how that goes–you need a lot of luck. Now, from this point on, it's holding your breath, because any little thing that goes wrong puts them out of the picture.”