Mark Casse

Coinage (c, 2, Tapit--Bar of Gold, by Medaglia d'Oro) switched to grass in style with a wire-to-wire upset victory at 6-1 in Wednesday's GIII With Anticipation S. at Saratoga. The chestnut, drawn widest of all in post six, was sent to the front by Junior Alvarado. The New York-bred showed the way through fractions of :25.66 and :50.65, and had plenty left for the stretch to win going away by two lengths. Saratoga debut winner Portfolio Company (Kitten's Joy), a handful for Irad Ortiz, Jr. throughout the 1 1/16-miles journey,...

First Empire, fittingly trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, became the first stakes winner for freshman sire Classic Empire with a win in Saturday's Soaring Free S. at Woodbine. He dueled and tired to fifth in his debut over the all-weather July 4, then dueled free when switched to grass to graduate here Aug. 1. Backed as the second choice in this one, First Empire forced the issue from an outside second, began to shake clear rounding the far turn and gamely kept finding after switching to his left...

MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm's Got Stormy (Get Stormy), the only female winner of the GI Fourstardave H. when she won the race two years ago in stakes record time, found her best form Saturday to post a 12-1 upset in this year's running of the "Win and You're In" qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Purchased off a fifth-place finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint by B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Farm for $2.75 million at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale and then offered in microshare pieces via...

The contingent behind MGISW Got Stormy (Get Stormy) has been carefully monitoring the weather this week as the 6-year-old turf specialist prepares for her third appearance in Saratoga's GI Fourstardave H. Possible scattered overnight thunderstorms leading up to Saturday's card could soften the turf more than the fan-favorite mare would prefer. "For a horse named Got Stormy, she doesn't like much rain," her recently inducted Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said. "If the turf gets soft on Saturday, a mile is stretching her distance ability. We'll see what happens,...

On Wednesday, disgraced trainer Jorge Navarro pled guilty to one count of distribution of adulterated and misbranded drugs with the intent to defraud and mislead, a major development in the doping scandal that has rocked the sport since indictments were announced in March of 2020. Navarro will likely spend time in prison and has been ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $25,860,514. His career is over and he may be deported to his native Panama. But was this good day or bad day for the sport?  And what...

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,...

Recent Hall of Fame inductee Mark Casse joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to share what the recent induction means to him and discuss some of his top trainees, both past and present.

2nd-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:41 p.m. LOVE TO RUN (Connect) debuts for Breeze Easy LLC and trainer Mark Casse, who enjoyed is year-delayed induction into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Friday. Piloted by Tyler Gaffalione, who is striking at a 19% clip at the current meet, the half to MSP Thanks Mr. Edison realized a $640,000 final bid from agent Tom McGreevy following a 10 2/5 breeze at the OBSAPR Sale. The price represented the top price for a 2-year-old filly and the second-highest...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--To punctuate his acceptance speech that concluded the Hall of Fame induction ceremony Friday, trainer Todd Pletcher used a favorite line of the late Cot Campbell, the Thoroughbred owner and colorful racing personality who was one of his longtime patrons. "It's not going to sound nearly as cool coming from me, he was a cool guy," Pletcher said, "but most of all, I want to thank the horses, the horses and the horses." Campbell's words were a fitting coda for racing's annual feel-good day that salutes the best...

Win Approval, a Live Oak Stud foundation mare and the 2017 Broodmare of the Year, was euthanized July 19 due to the infirmities of old age, the farm announced Tuesday. She was 29 years old. By Canadian Horse of the Year With Approval out of the graded stakes-placed and stakes-producing Hoist the Flag mare Negotiator, Win Approval left an indelible mark on the industry as a producer of champions. The Live Oak homebred is the dam of eight winners from 10 foals, including a pair of champions--World Approval (Northern Afleet),...

'TDN Rising Star' Souper Sensational (Curlin), a jaw-dropping winner of her first two career starts last fall at Woodbine, got back on track in a big way with a dominating performance in Saturday's GIII Victory Ride S. at Belmont. Outfooted through fractions of :22.81 and :45.68, she was locked and loaded in fifth beneath Flavien Prat approaching the quarter pole, and exploded with a four/five-wide blitz from there to record a career high. The chestnut went winless in four previous starts at three after capping her 2-year-old campaign with a...

2nd-Gulfstream, $60,000, Msw, 5-14, 2yo, 5f, :58.40, ft, 2 3/4 lengths. PAPPACAP (c, 2, Gun Runner--Pappascat {GSP, $165,762}, by Scat Daddy) was off as the even-money favorite to become the second winner for his freshman sire (by Candy Ride {Arg}) at first asking. He broke on top in this eight-horse affair and was pushed along through an opening quarter in :22.71. The bay began to shake clear off the turn, had a three-length advantage in the stretch and had the final margin cut to 2 3/4 lengths by Merlin (Brethren)....