Mark Casse

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)....

At the end of 2020, I was happy to hear that an important piece of legislation geared toward keeping our horses safe, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA), was signed into law. I chose to support HISA because it will establish the same medication rules and penalties at every track in every jurisdiction in the United States, which makes for fair and equal competition, promotes equine welfare and punishes those who cross the line. This week, I read the news that the governing authority established by HISA announced its...

LOUISVILLE, KY - Despite heavy overnight rain leaving the Churchill Downs main track a sloppy mess, there was still plenty to take in during Thursday's GI Kentucky Derby/Oaks training session, including an appearance by the horse that has the big bulls-eye on his back. Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), Soup and Sandwich (Into Mischief) and Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) drew a nice crowd of admirers by the Lukas gap as the track was being sealed beneath ominous skies and humid conditions just a tick before 7:30 a.m. With his...

Kicking off its third season, the Empire Racing Club (ERC) will offer a reduced price of $400 through the official re-launch date of May 15. In a departure from the first two seasons, 2021 membership is open to both licensed and unlicensed racing enthusiasts looking to enjoy the social and educational benefits of the Club. The 2021 ERC season will be limited to 200 members. The ERC will once again be managed by famed race-caller Tom Durkin. Training the current team of runners for the 2021 season are Hall of...

The Ontario government announced earlier this week that a province-wide COVID-19-related lockdown has been extended to at least May 20, dashing hopes that Woodbine will be able to open for business any time soon. The meet was supposed to begin Apr. 17. "There is a crisis right now in the Toronto area and we're right in the middle of it," said Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson. "They are running out of intensive care beds and the numbers are not going down. The good news is that more vaccines are coming in...

With just two weeks remaining to the running of the GI Kentucky Derby, the Saturday worktab at Churchill Downs was dotted with the names of top sophomores headed towards the first jewel of racing's Triple Crown. Godolphin's reigning Eclipse Award-winning juvenile colt and 'TDN Rising Star' Essential Quality (Tapit) took to the Churchill main track at 5:15 a.m. with big-race rider Luis Saez in from Keeneland to put the colt through his paces. The homebred went five furlongs in :59.60 after breaking off about a length behind 4-year-old stablemate Spa...