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Norm Casse Celebrates ‘Surreal’ Saratoga Stakes Win For Marylou Whitney Stables

Marylou Whitney Stables' Pretty Birdie wired Thursday's Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville for juvenile fillies by two lengths in a fitting tribute to her late owner on Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course.

Trainer Norm Casse, the 37-year-old son of Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse, is a racing history buff and said the victory by the Bird Song grey, out of the Street Sense mare Bird Sense, resonated for him. Pretty Birdie's fourth dam, Dear Birdie, produced 2004 Belmont Stakes and Travers winner Birdstone for Whitney.

That year, with a Triple Crown on the line at Belmont Park, Birdstone upset the Kentucky Derby and Preakness-winner Smarty Jones at odds of 36-1 for Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito.

“Everyone assumes I love horse racing because of who my family is and who my father is, but Smarty Jones is the reason I fell in love with horse racing,” said Casse. “I think we all know the story on how that one ends with Marylou beating him, and now I train for her. It's just surreal. I thank her and John [Hendrickson] so much. They've really given me everything and I really appreciate everything they've done.”

Following Thursday's emotional win, Hendrickson reflected on how much it would have meant to his late wife, who provided so much to the racing community at Saratoga.

“This is where she felt the most alive. This is the way she is alive and she has a win on Opening Day. It's pretty special,” Hendrickson said. “This is a dream come true for me and Marylou. Things getting back to normal and winning on Opening Day, she's throwing a party. She said, 'I want to race, get back to work.'”

Pretty Birdie was quickest away from the inside post under Luis Saez and set swift fractions, while being tracked by the mutuel favorite Mainstay who was off a step slow. Despite appearing to tire late in the lane, Pretty Birdie held strong against her well-related rival, who is a half-sister to reigning 2-year-old champion filly Vequist.

“She didn't switch leads and it kind of looked like she was laboring down the lane, but I think that was more of her just being still a little green and still figuring things out,” Casse said. “But more importantly than that, it's the first time she's ever been over on the main track so I think she was looking around.”

Pretty Birdie, who garnered a 76 Beyer Speed Figure, entered the Schuylerville from a similar front-running score in a five-furlong maiden special weight on June 18 at Churchill Downs.

Casse said the attractive grey filly may have been distracted by an Opening Day crowd of 27,760 fans in attendance.

“When she ran at Churchill, it was a decent crowd when she won there but you can't recreate the Saratoga experience in most places,” Casse said. “She had a lot of excuses to finish the way she did down the lane, but I think it was more about that, than her ability. I think she was just playing around yesterday.”

Casse said Pretty Birdie will now look to stretch her speed in the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway on September 5 at Saratoga.

“I'm a firm believer that if you have really great gate speed and you can run horses off their feet, it's very advantageous. It's the same thing as having a head start in a foot race,” Casse said. “Going forward, she should relax a little more but that doesn't mean she won't be on the front end.”

Casse, who has 16 stalls adjacent to the Oklahoma training track, said he will look to earn more hardware at the Spa summer meet with a pair of promising juveniles in Robert E. Masterson's Glacial, who is targeting the Grade 2, $150,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite; and Deuce Greathouse, Cindy Hutson and Madaket Stables' Ontheonesandtwos, who is probable for the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack on August 8.

Both juveniles last raced in six-furlong main track stakes on June 26, Closing Day at Churchill Downs, with Ontheonesandtwos finishing second in the Debutante and Glacial a strong third in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor.

“Ontheonesandtwos probably should have won the Debutante at Churchill on Closing Day,” Casse said. “She had a really tough trip. She'll breeze on Sunday and start preparing for the Adirondack.

“Glacial finished a really good third in the Bashford Manor,” Casse continued. “He's being pointed to the Saratoga Special.”

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Pretty Birdie Carries Marylou Whitney Stables Silks To Opening Day Schuylerville Victory

Marylou Whitney Stables' Pretty Birdie rocketed to a lead that she never relinquished, fending off 6-5 favorite Mainstay's stretch-drive challenge to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville for juvenile fillies by two lengths on Thursday, Opening Day, at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 103rd edition of the six-furlong Schuylerville fittingly saw the ownership group of the late Saratoga icon and philanthropist capture a graded stakes during the lid-lifter of the 40-day meet. To accomplish the feat, Pretty Birdie wasted no time breaking sharply from the inside post under Luis Saez, leading the seven-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 22.29 seconds, a half in 45.82 and three-quarters in 58.40 on the fast main track.

Mainstay, who broke from post 2 under Frankie Pennington and tracked in second position in every point of call, made a late bid out of the turn, but Saez kept his charge to task, completing the course in a 1:12.32 final time.

“This is where she felt the most alive,” said owner John Hendrickson, who was married to Whitney until her passing in July 2019. “This is the way she is alive and she has a win on opening day. It's pretty special. This is a dream come true for me and Marylou. Things getting back to normal and winning on Opening Day, she's throwing a party. She said 'I want to race, get back to work.'

“It means so much,” Hendrickson added. “The smiling faces and having Saratoga back the way it should be and having a win. It's very special.”

Pretty Birdie's gate-to-wire score was the second career graded stakes win for trainer Norm Casse and his first in New York. The Kentucky homebred, a daughter of Bird Song, improved to 2-for-2 following her debut win in June at Churchill Downs.

“I feel like she was a little more green today. She didn't want to switch leads down the lane,” Casse said. “I was a little bit concerned about that as she was finishing, but I think that was just her seeing a new place. This was the first time she had even come over here. I kept her on the Oklahoma [training track] side the entire week she's been here.”

Off at 5-2, Pretty Birdie returned $7.60 on a $2 win wager. Casse said the next target for her is the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway on September 5 at Saratoga.

“I think she was just gawking around and maybe even waiting on the other horse,” Casse said. “Those are things we'll fix before we run her in the Spinaway next.”

Saez won his second career Schuylerville, joining Off the Tracks in 2015.

“She's very fast,” said Saez, who finished the day with three wins. “I could feel it. She was on her toes. She broke from there pretty quick and we controlled the pace. When we came to the top of the stretch, she was running. I was pretty happy with her.

“She was a little tired [late in the lane] but she was go,” he added. “Nice filly.”

Mainstay, a half-sister to reigning 2-year-old champion filly Vequist trained by Butch Reid, Jr. was a 7 3/4-length first-out winner in June at Monmouth Park. Making her Saratoga bow, the Astern filly finished 5 1/4 lengths clear of Saucy Lady T for second.

“I think she ran well,” Reid, Jr. said. “It was a quality horse that beat her. My jockey was a little upset that she wasn't standing quite right in the gate and they snapped it before she was really ready. She had one leg that was underneath the next stall. I think maybe if she breaks a little better, who knows, but she didn't get away from the gate clean.”

Velvet Sister, Cartel Queen, Eagle Express and Queen Camilla completed the order of finish. Pipeline Girl and Happy Soul, the 8-5 morning-line favorite, scratched.

Live racing resumes Friday with a 10-race card highlighted by the Grade 3, $150,000 Forbidden Apple for 4-year-olds and up going one mile on the inner turf in Race 9 at 5:39 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:05 p.m.

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Bird Song Filly Flies Away with Schuylerville in Whitney Colors

Pretty Birdie, the first and only winner thus far from just 22 first-crop foals for his already expatriated sire (by Unbridled's Song), zipped to the front and ran them off their feet to take Thursday's GIII Schuylerville S. at the Spa in the silks of the late Saratoga legend Marylou Whitney.

The grey had earned a field's-best 78 Beyer Speed Figure for a clear debut score at Churchill June 18, and was backed as the second choice behind 'TDN Rising Star' Mainstay, the half-sister to last year's champion 2-year-old filly Vequist (Nyquist) who aired on debut at Monmouth.

Clearing off by a few lengths after breaking from the rail, Pretty Birdie was pursued by Mainstay through splits of :22.29 and :45.82. The leader never switched her leads, and Mainstay got a bit green late herself, as Pretty Birdie found the wire two lengths to the good.

“It means so much. The smiling faces and having Saratoga back the way it should be and having a win. It's very special,” said Whitney's widower John Hendrickson. “This is where she felt the most alive. This is the way she is alive and she has a win on opening day. It's pretty special. This is a dream come true for me and Marylou. Things getting back to normal and winning on Opening Day, she's throwing a party. She said 'I want to race, get back to work.'”

Trainer Norm Casse's first graded stakes win also came for Whitney, just a month before she died, with Hard Legacy (Hard Spun) in the 2019 GIII Regret S.

“I feel like she was a little more green today,” the son of Hall of Famer Mark Casse said. “She didn't want to switch leads down the lane. I was a little bit concerned about that as she was finishing, but I think that was just her seeing a new place. This was the first time she had even come over here. I kept her on the Oklahoma [training track] side the entire week she's been here… I think she was just gawking around and maybe even waiting on the other horse. Those are things we'll fix before we run her in the [Sept. 5 GI] Spinaway next.”

As for the importance of winning this race for this owner, Casse said, “I put a lot of pressure on myself today. I thought this was the story of the day. If we could win the race for Marylou Whitney and John today with Saratoga opening back up, that it would mean the world for a lot of people and thankfully, Pretty Birdie delivered for us… Most of the time in horse racing it doesn't work out the way you hope, but today it did.”

Thursday, Saratoga
SCHUYLERVILLE S.-GIII, $150,000, Saratoga, 7-15, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:12.32, ft.
1–PRETTY BIRDIE, 120, f, 2, by Bird Song
                1st Dam: Bird Sense, by Street Sense
                2nd Dam: Bird Harbor, by Boston Harbor
                3rd Dam: Dearest Gulch, by Gulch
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O-Marylou
Whitney Stables (Hendrickson); B-Marylou Whitney Stables
LLC (KY); T-Norm W. Casse; J-Luis Saez. $82,500. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $139,988. *First SW for freshman sire. Werk Nick Rating: C+.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mainstay, 120, f, 2, Astern (Aus)–Vero Amore, by Mineshaft.
'TDN Rising Star' O-Swilcan Stable LLC & LC Racing; B-Swilcan
Stables (KY); T-Robert E. Reid, Jr. $30,000.
3–Saucy Lady T, 120, f, 2, Tonalist–Fila Primera, by War Front.
($5,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-James K. Chapman & Stuart
Tsujimoto; B-R. S. Evans (KY); T-James K. Chapman. $18,000.
Margins: 2, 5 1/4, 8HF. Odds: 2.80, 1.30, 18.10.
Also Ran: Velvet Sister, Cartel Queen, Eagle Express, Queen Camilla. Scratched: Happy Soul, Pipeline Girl. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Pretty Birdie is a product of the Whitney program top and bottom. Bird Song took the 2017 GIII Fred Hooper S. and GII Alysheba S. in the eton blue and brown, and is out of 2003 GI Kentucky Oaks heroine and champion 3-year-old filly Bird Town (Cape Town). Bird Song, who began his stud career at Gainesway, was exported to Saudi Arabia before this past breeding season.

Two-time winner Bird Sense, meanwhile, counts Broodmare of the Year Dear Birdie (Storm Bird)–the dam of both Bird Town and GI Belmont S./GI Travers S. hero Birdstone (Grindstone)–as her third dam.

“She's inbred to Dear Birdie 3×4,” Noted Hendrickson. “That broodmare has proved successful for us again. She produced Bird Town and Birdstone.”

Bird Sense produced a full brother to Pretty Birdie in January before being bred back to Far From Over.

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Norm Casse ‘Hoping For A Little Bit Of Luck’ With Pretty Birdie In Opening Day Schuylerville

Trainer Norm Casse said he is hoping to start the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on a high note when he sends out Pretty Birdie on Saratoga's Opening Day this Thursday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville.

Owned by Marylou Whitney Stables, the homebred juvenile daughter of Bird Song won at first asking on June 18 at Churchill Downs, leading at every point of call and extended her advantage throughout the five-furlong journey to win by 3 3/4 lengths.

Casse said he noticed something special in Pretty Birdie since she arrived at his barn from Ocala, where she was broken by Randy Bradshaw.

“We've always been high on her,” Casse said. “She came up from Randy Bradshaw with other Whitney babies. It was pretty obvious from day one that she was the most precocious. She's professional, fast, loves to run and just has all the kind of qualities you look for in a racehorse. So, she's earned her spot in this race. We're just hoping for a little bit of luck.”

Despite displaying frontrunning tactics on debut, Casse said Pretty Birdie would likely track the pace under Luis Saez, given the amount of speed in the field of nine juvenile fillies.

“It seems like there's a ton of speed in there,” Casse said. “I just hope we break sharply from the rail and forwardly placed in the pace. At some point hopefully Luis can find a way out and we can make our run.”

Casse learned his craft as an assistant from his father, Hall of Famer Mark Casse. He now seeks his first graded stakes triumph at the Spa since going out on his own in 2018, and his second graded stakes victory overall of his career. In 2019, he saddled Hard Legacy – also owned by Marylou Whitney Stables – to a score in the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill Downs.

“To win the Schuylerville on opening day at Saratoga, with everything going back to normal after the pandemic, would be amazing,” Casse said. “Obviously, it's a privilege to be associated with the Whitneys and John [Hendrickson], knowing what they mean to the town of Saratoga.”

Casse, who has 16 stalls at the Spa for the meet, expressed excitement in running some of his talented juveniles at Saratoga this summer.

“We're really lucky to have a bunch of nice 2-year-olds, so we thought it would be the right time to come back up here,” Casse said.

Some juveniles for Casse that are possible for stakes action later this meet include Ontheonesandtwos who was a last out second in the Debutante on June 26 at Churchill Downs and could race in the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack on August 8.

Glacial, third in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor on June 26 at Churchill Downs, is possible for the Grade 2, $150,000 Saratoga Special presented by Miller Lite.

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