By Bill Finley
Mark Casse has only won the Queen's Plate/King's Plate three times, which is a little surprising when you consider how he dominates racing at Woodbine. But when 13 Canadian-breds line up for Saturday's first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown Casse will hold a clear upper hand. Among his three horses are 7-5 morning line favorite My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince) and 2-1 second choice Essex Serpent (Honor Code). He will also send out long shot Midnight Mascot (Army Mule), who is 10-1 in the line.
He believes this year's cast is as good, or even better, than last year's when he finished first and second in the race with Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman) and the filly Elysian Field (Hard Spun).
“Last year we were pretty strong,” he said. “We had won the Oaks and the Plate Trial, but this group is very strong. Yes, it could be the strongest hand I've ever had.”
My Boy Prince went 3-for-6 last year and was named Canada's champion 2-year-old male. After finishing eighth the Palisades S. at Keeneland in his 3-year-old debut, he's been on a tear. He's won three straight, including the Plate Trial. In the Trial, he hopped at start, spotting the field two or three lengths, raced four-wide while well off a slow place. He kept grinding away until he got to the wire first by 1 1/4 lengths.
“I think that he's very good right now,” Casse said. “We thought he trained into the Plate Trial not as sharp as he had been previously. Then he gets away bad. I was very impressed with his last race. I've been watching horse racing for a long, long time and have seen that with many a good horse when something goes wrong they're not able to overcome it. For him, he get away bad and then was really wide and still won. I was really impressed and coming out of that race he has trained really well. His work the other day was extremely good. We're ready and we're happy.”
My Boy Prince will be ridden by Sahin Civaci, who has emerged as a star on the Woodbine circuit and is at the top of the jockey's standings. He was born in Vancouver, but his family moved to Turkey when he was 10.
“He's a young phenomenon,” Casse said. “He can do anything. He's strong and has a great mind. A couple of years ago nobody had ever heard of him. Now, when these big races come up he has everybody's attention.”
Essex Serpent is next on the Casse depth chart. He's 2-for-3 and is coming off a one-length win in the GIII Marine S.
“He's a big strong horse,” Casse said. “His Marine was very good, especially when you consider that the second place finisher, Cameo Performance, came back after that race and won a stakes at Ellis Park.”
Midnight Mascot was third in the Marine, where he showed enough that Casse thought he deserved a spot in the King's Plate.
“If you asked me before the Marine I would have told you that he wasn't on my radar for the King's Plate. I didn't think that he could go that far and I thought he was a cut below the other two,” he said. “But his Marine was very good and he came running at the end, which bodes well for the mile and a quarter. I'm not sure that he's as good as the other two, but it wouldn't shock me if he won.”
Though he's American, Casse understands the importance of the King's Plate and what it means to win it.
“Any time you can win a race with the prestige that the King's Plate has, that is a big deal,” he said. “When I was younger it was the Queen's Plate. For someone like me who's been involved in racing from the time he was five or six years old, the Queen's Plate, the King's Plate was always a big deal to me. It continues to be a big deal.”
Kevin Attard may not have the firepower that Casse has, but he has the numbers. He will start four horses, all of them long shots. His best horse may be the filly Caitlininhergrtness (Omaha Beach), who was named for WNBA star Caitlin Clark. She was second, beaten just a neck in the Woodbine Oaks.
The third choice in the morning line belongs to Rafaroo (Hard Spun), who is 8-1.
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