By Canadian Press

Hall of Fame conditioner Casse flying under Plate radar with his two horses

Aug 16, 2022 | 2:29 PM

He’s been Canada’s champion thoroughbred trainer the last 11 years and twice has won the $1-million Queen’s Plate. But Mark Casse heads into the opening leg of the 2022 OLG Canadian Triple Crown under the radar.

Casse will have two horses running in the Plate on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack. But neither Sir for Sure nor Hall of Dreams have received much attention since finishing 1-2, respectively, in last month’s $150,400 Plate Trial.

On the same day, Moira won the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks over the same distance (1 1/8 miles) and surface (Tapeta) as the Plate Trial. Not only did the filly win her race by a whopping 10 3/4 lengths, her time (1:49.78) was faster than Sir for Sure (1:50.62) despite not wearing hind shoes.

Not surprisingly, Moira held down the top spot in the latest Plate Power Rankings issued by Woodbine. Sir for Sure was fifth.

“Obviously, I know Moira won the Oaks and ran faster than we did and take nothing away from her, she’s going to be extremely tough,” Casse said.

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“You always like having the favourite, that means you have a better shot at winning than anybody else most of the time. But if you’re looking at two horses that will love 1 1/4 miles (Plate distance) I think both of our horses will . . . you just have to keep your fingers crossed.”

Four Oaks champions have gone on to win the Plate — Holy Helena (2017), Lexie Lou (2014), Inglorious (2011) and Dancethruthedawn (2001). In 2018, Oaks runner-up Wonder Gadot also won it.

Casse achieved the Oaks-Plate double in ’14 with Lexie Lou. His other Plate victory came with Wonder Gadot.

The 61-year-old native of Indianapolis had earned 3,367 career victories as of Monday and is a member of both the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame. He’s been named Canada’s top thoroughbred trainer an unprecedented 14 times overall.

Sir for Sure, ridden by Declan Carroll, earned a two-length win over Hall of Dreams in the Plate Trial. Afterwards, veteran jockey Patrick Husbands, who rode Hall of Dreams, launched a claim of foul against the winner. It was ultimately denied, leaving the order of finish unchanged.

Casse had no issues with Husbands’ decision.

“I would’ve been disappointed in Patrick had he not claimed foul,” Case said. “I don’t want anyone to ever think just because we have (multiple horses in race) that we’re not going to do the best we can.

“I let them (jockeys) do their thing because I don’t want it to be unfair for one owner. I’ve lived my life that way and I’ll continue to.”

The Plate Trial was Sir for Sure’s second win in three ’22 starts and boosted his season earnings to $102,456. The horse has two wins and a second-place finish over five lifetime races and earned over $124,000.

“I thought it (Plate Trial) was good,” Casse said. “He won so impressively at Gulfstream (first-ever win Feb. 5).

“If you watched the race and didn’t know he was the winner, hardly at any point and time would you think this horse had any shot to win but he did. Declan watched his win at Gulfstream and tried to ride him the same way in the Plate Trial and it worked out well.”

Hall of Dreams has a win and three second-place finishes in five races this year. Over seven career starts, Hall of Dreams has five podium finishes (one win, four times second) with earnings over $113,000.

“He ran really well (in Plate Trial),” Casse said. “He had a bit of a troubled trip but the good news is the extra eighth of a mile won’t hurt his feelings.”

And like Carroll, Husbands reviewed tape of Hall of Dreams’ victory June 25 at Woodbine, with Kazushi Kimura aboard before the Plate Trial. Husbands, 49, is a two-time Plate champion who in ’03 rode Wando to the Canadian Triple Crown title, the last horse to accomplish the feat.

Casse said his two Plate horses are very different. Sir for Sure is a very big animal that commands attention by his sheer brawn while Hall of Dreams simply goes about his job without much fanfare.

“He doesn’t draw attention to himself.,” Casse said. “Horses draw attention to themselves in one of two ways: they can be really bad or really good.

“He’s just kind of there but gets the job done. When we purchased him after his second start, this (Queen’s Plate) was our goal. I’ve always been impressed with him.”

It has been four years since Casse last won the Queen’s Plate. He said there’s prestige that comes with being victorious in North America’s oldest, continuously run race.

“When you can win the icon of horse racing in Canada, it’s big,” he said. “To win it once was a huge thrill.

“To win it a second time was fantastic and to win it a third time would be incredible.”

And once again, Casse’s pre-race chat with his jockeys will be short and sweet.

“I’m going to tell Declan and Patrick the exact same thing I tell every rider who rides for me,” he said. “Good luck and most importantly, be safe.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2022.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press