TORONTO — Mark Casse, set to wrap up his sixth consecutive title as Woodbine’s leading trainer, has pre-entered five horses for the 29th edition of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, set for Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., Nov. 2-3.
Delegation (Dirt Mile), Dynamic Sky (Juvenile), Pool Play (Classic), Spring in the Air (Juvenile Fillies) and Spring Venture (Juvenile Fillies Turf), will lead a total of 19 horses with Canadian connections set for thoroughbred racing’s $25 million-plus racing festival.
Trainer Carolyn Costigan has also pre-entered Woodbine-based Nancy O, third-place finisher in Woodbine’s Grade 2 Natalma Stakes, in the Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Owner J. Paul Reddam, the Windsor, Ontario native, who came into international fame when his I’ll Have Another won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness earlier this year, has seven horses pre-entered. The California resident will send out Boxeur Des Rues (Sprint, Turf Sprint), Cogito (Turf), Handsome Mike (Dirt Mile, Classic), He’s Had Enough (Juvenile, Juvenile Turf), Know More (Juvenile, Juvenile Turf), Second City (Dirt Mile, Sprint) and Self Preservation (Filly and Mare Sprint).
Other horses with Canadian connections include stunning undefeated U.S. based, Canadian-owned Awesome Feather (owner Stronach Stables; Ladies Classic), Bridgetown (owner-breeder Melnyk Racing Stables; Turf Sprint), Jersey Town (owner Charles Fipke; Dirt Mile), multiple graded stakes winning Ontario-bred heroine, Marketing Mix (Filly and Mare Turf), Commander (based in Western Canada, owned by Canadians Glen Todd and Patrick Kinsella, who make up the North American Thoroughbred Horse Company, Inc. and are the co-reigning Sovereign Award owner champions and trained by Hastings Park-based Troy Taylor; Marathon) and Upgrade (trained by Calgary native Michelle Nihei; Turf Sprint).
The Casse contingent is formidable. He will send out the undefeated Spring Venture, winner of the Grade 2 Natalma Stakes, a ‘Win and You’re In’ event, for Friday’s Juvenile Fillies Turf race. The Natalma’s runner-up will also be heard from, Ontario-bred Spring in the Air, who will compete in Friday’s Juvenile Fillies event, after romping in the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland.
Delegation dominated older horses in the Grade 3 Durham Cup Stakes at Woodbine last time out getting ready for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Dynamic Sky, an Ontario-bred, faces a field of 10 in Saturday’s Juvenile, after a win in the Simcoe Stakes at Woodbine and a strong second to Joha in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland last time out.
Pool Play, bred in Ontario by the renowned Windfields Farm, will compete in the $5 million Classic, following his win in the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup in Illinois.
Final Breeders’ Cup entries will be drawn on Monday, October 29.
Complete pre-entry fields and updates are available at www.breederscup.com. Further details about the Canadian horses will be available at www.woodbineracetrack.com.
Friday’s Breeders’ Cup races will air in Canada on TSN2 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm, while Saturday’s races will also be on TSN2 (3:30pm to 9:00pm)
Canadian-connected content in the Breeders’ Cup:
FRIDAY
JUVENILE SPRINT
(none)
MARATHON
-Commander (Hastings Park-based with Troy Taylor, owned by Canadians Glen Todd and Patrick Kinsella, who make up the North American Thoroughbred Horse Company, Inc.)
JUVENILE FILLIES TURF
-Nancy O (Woodbine-based with trainer Carolyn Costigan, co-owned by her father Robert Costigan of Mississauga)
-Spring Venture (Woodbine-based with trainer Mark Casse)
JUVENILE FILLIES
-Spring in the Air (Woodbine-based with trainer Mark Casse, Ontario-bred by Winstar Farm LLC)
FILLY AND MARE TURF
-Marketing Mix (Ontario-bred by Sean Fitzhenry)
LADIES’ CLASSIC
-Awesome Feather (owned by Stronach Stables of Aurora, Ontario)
SATURDAY
JUVENILE TURF
-He’s Had Enough (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in Juvenile
-Know More (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in Juvenile
FILLY AND MARE SPRINT
-Self Preservation (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario)
DIRT MILE
-Delegation (Woodbine-based with trainer Mark Casse, Ontario-bred by Arosa Farms)
-Jersey Town (Canadian-owned and bred by Charles Fipke of Kelowna, B.C.)
-Handsome Mike (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in the Classic
-Second City (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in the Sprint
TURF SPRINT
-Bridgetown (Canadian-owned and bred by Melnyk Racing Stables of Toronto)
-Boxeur des Rues (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in Sprint
-Upgrade (trained by Calgary native Michele Nihei)
JUVENILE
-Dynamic Sky (Woodbine-based with trainer Mark Casse, Ontario-bred by Arosa Farms)
-He’s Had Enough (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in Juvenile Turf
-Know More (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in Juvenile Turf
TURF
-Cogito (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario)
SPRINT
-Boxeur des Rues (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in Turf Sprint
-Second City (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in the Dirt Mile
MILE
(none)
CLASSIC
-Handsome Mike (owned by J. Paul Reddam of Windsor, Ontario) *cross-entered in the Dirt Mile
-Pool Play (Woodbine-based with trainer Mark Casse, Ontario-bred by Windfields Farms)