By Canadian Press

Veteran trainer Mark Casse sending three horses to Woodbine Mile

Sep 13, 2023 | 12:47 PM

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.

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

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.

The Canadian Press