Cause 2-Year-Olds: It’s More About Development Than Wins;

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Twizz Looks At Home On Grass;
Alvarado, Hernandez Tied At Top
 
 HENDERSON, Ky. (July 29, 2016) — Trainer Mark Casse’s increasingly explosive stable has one win in eight starts overall at Ellis Park this meet. But it is accomplishing the mission of getting experience for its 2-year-olds. 
The overwhelming majority of Casse’s horses stabled at Churchill Downs this summer during the offseason are 2-year-olds. That includes Debby Oxley’s Minister’s Strike, who in his first start captured Sunday’s third race to give Casse his first win of the meet. But with Casse, it’s all about developing horses. In that regard, the stable is about as happy with the second and pair of thirds it has with the five babies to race so far at Ellis.
“We’re very happy with the Ellis meet. Horses have been running very well,” said David Carroll, the veteran trainer who this spring went to work as an assistant for Casse, a long-time friend. “First-timers have been getting good runs. Mark isn’t too concerned about winning first time out. He’s more concerned with the horse’s education and development. They’re never cranked up 100 percent, but they’re going out there and doing their best, not rushing them off their feet but having them finish up well and move on. It’s a great program, and I love it. Even though we have safety in numbers, each horse is an individual and each horse has its own program.”
With his son and assistant Norman Casse up at Saratoga, Mark Casse’s Louisville division this summer is overseen by Carroll, who ran the stable’s Keeneland operation in the spring. Carroll has been a fixture in Kentucky racing since opening his own stable in 1992 after working as an exercise rider and assistant to Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey in New York, including being the training rider of champion Easy Goer.
Carroll won Keeneland’s Grade 1 Spinster in 2010 with seven-time stakes-winner Acoma and was third in the 2008 Kentucky Derby and second in the Belmont with Denis of Cork. But training horses is a mercurial game, and Carroll found himself down on horses.
Casse’s stakes horses running in New Orleans would ship into Carroll’s barn at the Fair Grounds. “One thing led to another,” Carroll said. “It just seemed like a great opportunity to be part of something that’s really good. Mark is just going to get bigger and better. He puts so much confidence into you; how could you not want to be part of something big?”
Carroll said there has been a transition to becoming part of such a big organization — including a lot of time spent on a computer — but he has great admiration for how Casse has set up the operation.
“There’s a lot of horsemanship involved, and that’s where I feel I come into play. It’s all about the horse,” he said, adding with a laugh, “From an organization point of view, the computer, that’s where I have to do extra work. I do a report for Mark every day and tell him what I’d like to do for tomorrow. He’ll say, ‘OK’ or ‘Let’s do this’ or ‘let’s do that.’ There’s great communication. Mark is unbelievable to work for. I didn’t know quite how smart he was until I went to work for him.
“Lovely, lovely horses, great pedigrees. A lot of work and a lot of fun.”
Casse ranks No. 4 in North American purse earnings this year at $8.59 million; his 118 victories put him at No. 6. Casse’s 16 wins with 2-year-olds in 2016 trail only Steve Asmussen’s 18.
At Ellis, Casse’s five 2-year-old starters match Kenny McPeek for second behind Asmussen’s eight. To show the difference the enhanced purses have made, consider that Casse ran one horse all last year at Ellis.
Twizz might have found a home on grass
Showing there is life after the Kentucky Derby prep wars, the Mike Maker-trained 3-year-old Twizz beat Big Squeeze by a half-length to take an allowance sprint Sunday. It was the grass debut for both colts.
Following an impressive maiden win sprinting at the Fair Grounds, Twizz’s camp took a shot at Keeneland’s Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass, where the Twirling Candy colt pressed the pace before tiring badly. Back sprinting, Twizz ran well in three tough dirt starts but seems to have found a home on turf.
“Nice horse,” said winning jockey Robby Albarado. “What I liked is that he got passed by a head at the eighth pole and he fought back. I don’t think I hit him the last eighth of a mile.”
“The great thing about this horse is that he’s never been beaten by a bad horse,” said majority owner Kevin Warner of Lexington. “He got beat by a really good (Bob) Baffert horse (Toews On Ice) in the William Walker Stakes. Then the next time out he got  beat by Rated R Superstar, who followed that up with a Grade 3 win. The next time out he got beat by two horses that last fall ran in Keeneland’s Breeders’ Futurity. So he wasn’t getting beat by trash. We wanted to give him a try on the turf, and it worked out well.”
Warner offered unsolicited praise for the relationship between Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs, which contributed $1.35 million to the Ellis purse account. The Henderson track in turn handed Saturday, Sept. 3, to Kentucky Downs for the all-grass track’s opener.
“For two smaller tracks, to stick together and help one another out, what a great collaboration,” he said. “Those collaborations are good for racing. We need more of them throughout racing across the country, not just in Kentucky. There’s give and take, and it just shows both parties’ willingness to work together. In this day and age, it’s rare. Kentucky Downs could have been just ‘me, me, me.’ Ellis Park could have been just ‘me, me, me.’”
Albarado’s 3 wins Sunday tie him for riding lead with Hernandez
Minister’s Strike and Twizz helped Albarado to a three-win afternoon Sunday, propelling him into a tie atop the jockey standings with his pal Brian Hernandez Jr. at 10 victories apiece. It is Albarado’s second summer based at Ellis. He says Ellis provides an excellent chance to get mounts on promising young horses and it also keeps him close to home. The jockey’s wife, Paige, on Memorial Day gave birth to their son, Liam. Albarado also has three children by a previous marriage.
Albarado isn’t about total wins but quality of wins. And he says there’s a lot of quality at Ellis this summer.
“Having a good meet,” he said. “It’s live horses and giving them a chance to win, that’s all. It’s good racing. The maiden races are really tough, like I thought they would be, and you have some nice older horses running.”
Albarado encourages fans to come out Saturday for Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund Day, which raises money for and awareness about the fund that provides financial assistance to about 60 jockeys who suffered catastrophic injuries (mostly paralysis or head injuries) while riding. Among other things, fans can get a pair of goggles signed by jockeys for a $15 donation, with riders signing autographs between races as their schedule allows.
“We’re not on contracts so nothing is guaranteed in our business,” Albarado said. “For affected riders, it’s for the rest of your life. It’s not like it’s going to heal with time; it’s life-changing. It could be me or anyone any day, so I owe it to them to do what we can to raise money.”
Factoid: There have been 10 races for 2-year-olds so far this Ellis meet. Only Hernandez, with two, has more than one win. No trainer has won more than one 2-year-old race.
Asmussen (7 for 26) retains the overall trainer’s lead with seven victories, two more than Maker (5 for 12) and Chris Richard (5 for 13). The leading owner with three wins is Midwest Thoroughbreds.
Coming attractions
Saturday: “Making of a Racehorse: Let’s get started!” fan education program for behind the scenes at the starting gate, barn visit and meet-and-greet with jockey Didiel Osorio and his agent, Jose Santos Jr. All ages welcome. Starts at 7:30 AM CT, with parking in the southern lot by the Ohio River levee. All afternoon: Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund Day and Ladies’ Day in the Gardenia Room (includes hat and high-heel contest).
Sunday: The return of the popular Dollar Days, with hotdogs, water, beer and ice cream sold for $1 every Sunday for the rest of the meet. Also, Military Appreciation Day, presented by Old National Bank.
Monday: The deadline to enter wiener dogs for Ellis’ popular races is Aug 1. Qualifiers are Aug. 20-21, with the finals held Aug. 27. Dogs must be Dachshunds and have proof of current vaccinations. A random drawing will be held to determine 32 participating dogs, plus alternates.
Online registration and more information at http://bit.ly/2ae83nc
For more information, contact Jennie Rees, Ellis Park publicity, at tracksidejennie@gmail.com. 

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