FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015 DOWN THE SHEDROW WITH MARK CASSE by Christie DeBernardis It has been quite a memorable year for trainer Mark Casse in 2015. The 54-year-old scored a career high just last month when landing his first Breeders’ Cup victory courtesy of Catch a Glimpse (City Zip) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Oct. 30. He didn’t have to wait long for his second one as the talented Tepin (Bernstein) bested the boys with an impressive victory in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile the very next day. The Casse barn has a total of 17 graded stakes wins so far this year, with five of those being Grade Is. Casse gave the TDN’s Christie DeBernardis the latest on all of his top runners and also pointed out some up-and-coming juveniles to watch for in the future. Cont. p3 Stays in Vegas | Benoit Photo SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN by J.M. Severni Stays in Vegas (City Zip) will contest Saturday’s GI Starlet S. at HKIR FIELDS TAKE SHAPE Los Alamitos Race Course, which could prove a source of healing Alan Carasso reports from Thursday’s barrier draw for the for the partnership of Jungle Racing LLC and KMN Racing LLC, four Longines Hong Kong International Races, which will be who lost champion Shared Belief suddenly last week to colic. held at Sha Tin Sunday. “It’s been a rough week and everybody has been trying to Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. handle the grief in our own way,” said Kevin Nish of KMN Racing. “We’ve seen a lot of tributes on the internet from fans and that helps us handle the grief, knowing that there are other people that share it with us.” Stays in Vegas, who was purchased by Solis/Litt Bloodstock on behalf of Jungle Racing, KMN and LNJ Foxwoods as a $40,000 KEESEP yearling, took the Juan Gonzalez Memorial S. at Oak Tree Pleasanton July 4 and the Wine Country Debutante S. at Santa Rosa Aug. 14 in her first two career starts for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Fifth in the GI Del Mar Debutante Sept. 5., she then switched to the turf for her next two starts--both wins--in the Surfer Girl S. at Santa Anita Oct. 10 and the Pike Place Dancer S. at Golden Gate Nov. 1. The juvenile filly will return to the dirt for the Starlet and will try the 1 1/16-mile distance. “We had her nominated for a turf race at Del Mar and, with the guidance of Jerry and Alex [Solis] and Jason [Litt], we opted for the race at Los Alamitos,” Nish explained. “She has run well on dirt up in Northern California before, too.” Cont. p3 PRESIDENT & CO-PUBLISHER Barry Weisbord @barryweisbord “Obviously, Nyquist (Uncle Mo) is [email protected] going to be the champion SR. V.P. & CO-PUBLISHER 2-year-old colt, but I think Sue Finley @suefinley Airoforce should be in the final [email protected] three,” Mark Casse said. V.P., INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS Gary King @garykingTDN Coady Photography. 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WORLDWIDE INFORMATION International Editor: Kelsey Riley [email protected] Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing: Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.thoroughbreddailynews.com www.thetdn.com HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 10 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • DEC. 11, 2015 FEATURE PRESENTATION • GI STARLET S. with Mark Casse ! CATCH A GLIMPSE (f, 2, City Zip) After a failed attempt in an off-the-turfer on debut at Saratoga July 30, Catch a Glimpse really came into her own when switched to the turf, starting with an impressive allowance win at Woodbine Aug. 22. Capturing the GII Natalma S. there next Something to Believe In (cont. from p1) out Sept. 12, the Gary Barber, Michael Ambler and Windways Nish, Jungle Racing’s Jim Rome, Solis, Litt and Hollendorfer will Farm runner rose to the top of her division with a victory in the be present for Saturday’s race, which Nish believes could help Juvenile Fillies Turf (video). the group heal after their shocking loss. “She’s doing great. She’s actually at Palm Meadows. She is “We’ll never get over it, but maybe this race will help us work galloping and we are aiming for the [GIII] Sweetest Chant [S. Jan. through it and get around it,” Nish commented. “Jim will be at 30]. We are just taking it one race at a time right now. I would the race and I’ll be there, so we’ll get to see each other again. say, we will aim her for the Sweetest Chant and then probably That’s going to be a tough few hours, but we’re hoping the the [GIII] Florida Oaks at Tampa [Mar. 12].” excitement of the race also helps. We’ve had a lot of “It was special for sure [getting his first Breeders’ Cup win in communication back and forth trying to help each other through the Juvenile Fillies Turf]. What’s so special about her is that we the shock of the loss of the champ. Maybe the race will help had a lot of issues with her early on. She was just so nervous. We focus us on the good things on the horizon, rather than the wanted to run her on the grass, but then it came off and we had sense of loss we all feel right now.” to run on the dirt. I thought she had ability, but boy, when she got on the grass she was just a totally different horse. It was a good race and she is a really good horse. I think she proved that.” HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 10 • THETDN.COM FRIDAY • DEC. 11, 2015 ! AIROFORCE (c, 2, Colonel John) “He always trained very well on the dirt. The only reason we A debut winner on the turf at Kentucky Downs Sept. 5, John ran him on the grass the first time was because I believe a Oxley’s Airoforce followed suit with another success in maiden special at Churchill was only $38,000 and a maiden Keeneland’s grassy GIII Dixiana Bourbon S. Oct. 4. A gutsy special weight at Kentucky Downs was $120,000. So, we ran him second by just a neck in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Oct. on the grass just because of the bigger purse, and because of his 30, the gray proved to be quite versatile when capturing a breeding, we figured he shouldn’t sloppy renewal of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. on the have any problem handling the Churchill main track Nov. 28 (video). grass. We weren’t sure that he would, but we didn’t think he “He’s in South Florida and he is just would have a problem with it. We kind of chilling. He’s just taking it were more sure he would handle easy. He’s had a couple of weeks of dirt, obviously, but we tried him just going around the shedrow. He [on grass] and he ran so well that starts back galloping Monday. I we didn’t want to take him off of Airoforce | Coady Photography haven’t really decided where we are it. The first thing I thought when he won the way he won was the going to bring him back yet. That’s a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. In our mind, we always wanted to discussion Mr. Oxley and I will try him on the dirt, so that is how he ended up in the [Kentucky] probably have in the next couple of Jockey Club.” weeks. We’ll see how he does. My “All that being said, I’m quite proud of him because how many only concern with running at Mark Casse | Coady horses, especially 2-year-olds, can you say have the kind of Photography Gulfstream would be how speed record he has.