Veteran trainer Mark Casse sending three horses to Woodbine Mile

By The Canadian Press on September 13, 2023.

TORONTO – Trainer Mark Casse will be well represented in the $1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile on Saturday.

Casse, 15 times Canada’s top thoroughbred conditioner, will have three entries in the six-horse field. A win Saturday would be Casse’s third in the Mile and tie him with Neil Drysdale, Robert Frankel and Charles LoPresti for the most by a trainer.

Casse’s horses Ice Chocolat, My Sea Cottage and Lucky Score drew No. 4, 5 and 6 posts, respectively, Wednesday. Ice Chocolat is a Brazilian-bred horse while My Sea Cottage was bred in Ireland and Lucky Score was bred in Ontario.

The remainder of the field includes Irish-bred Master of The Seas (post No. 1), War Bomber (another Irish-bred horse in post No. 2) and Shirl’s Speight (post No. 3). Shirl’s Speight is a six-year-old American-bred horse that’s owned by Canadian Charles Fipke and trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Roger Attfield.

Shirl’s Speight has five wins from 17 career starts and earned over $1.2 million but is winless in three races this season. Shirl’s Speight was a solid second in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile to Modern Games, the 2022 Woodbine Mile winner. He will be ridden Saturday by veteran Woodbine jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson.

The Mile will be one of three Grade 1 turf races Saturday, with the winners securing berths to the 2023 Breeders’ Cup, which will be held Nov. 3-4 at California’s Santa Anita Park. The other two are the Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (two-year-old fillies) and bet365 Summer Stakes (two-year-olds).

The Mile winner will qualify for the US$2 million Breeders’ Cup”¯ Mile. The Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes secures a spot in the $1-million Juvenile Fillies Turf while the bet365 Summer Stakes champion will earn a position in the $2-million Juvenile Turf.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2023.

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