Casse Starts Three in Commonwealth

While Saturday's GIII Discovery S. gives sophomore dirt horses a final chance at an age-restricted graded stakes, Churchill Downs' GIII Commonwealth Turf affords 3-year-old turf runners a similar opportunity.

Fresh off his success in last Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile), trainer Mark Casse will send out three of the 11 starters in here, led by Blackout (Fr) (Dream Ahead). A three-time winner in Europe while under the care of the talented Richard Hannon, including a handicap victory under 139 pounds over Newmarket's straight one-mile course in June, Blackout found plenty of trouble when eighth on his U.S. debut at Saratoga Sept. 3. The bay most recently came with a stinging rally from last to best older horses by 3/4 of a length going a mile over 'good' Belmont turf Oct. 14 and drops back into his own age group for this initial graded-stakes voyage with a smart four-furlong breeze in tow.

Classic Empire's owner John Oxley is represented here by Tizzarunner (Tizway). In the trifecta in all four of his turf appearances between eight and nine furlongs, the Maryland-bred is exiting a 1 1/2-length success in a first level allowance at Keeneland Oct. 27.

Bondurant (War Front) has yet to taste defeat at a route of ground on the turf and closed out his freshman campaign with a two-lifetime allowance success last Nov. 20. A comebacking sixth in a 6 1/2-furlong tilt at Kentucky Downs Sept. 3, the Whitham homebred improved for that effort to annex a one-mile Keeneland allowance by two solid lengths Oct. 13.

One Mean Man (Mizzen Mast), winner of the GIII American Derby at Arlington this past July, added a nose success in Canterbury's Mystic Lake Derby Aug. 27 and comes into this off a 1 1/2-length defeat of Zapperini (Ghostzapper) in an off-turf renewal of the Jefferson Cup Oct. 1.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Sir Dudley Digges (Gio Ponti) has but two victories to his credit, but one of those came three starts back when posting a 15-1 upset of the July 3 Queen's Plate over the Woodbine Tapeta. The dark bay led into the late stages of the 12-furlong Breeders' S. at Woodbine Aug. 21, but will likely need to post the fastest figure of his career to be a factor here.