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Hall Of Fame Trainer Mark Casse Approaching 3,000-Win Milestone

Trainer Mark Casse's next chance to notch career win No. 3,000 is scheduled to come Thursday at Gulfstream Park West in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Following the cancellation of Sunday's program at Woodbine, where he had seven horses entered, Casse's milestone win could be reached with Live Oak Plantation's Souper Watson in Thursday's Race 3 at Gulfstream Park West. The 3-year-old Ghostzapper gelding is scheduled to make his first start since April 25 in the 7 ½-furlong maiden special weight race on turf.

Casse, who was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame this year, also has entered What a Beaut in Thursday's Race 6, a 7 ½-furlong turf allowance for Florida-bred fillies and mares, at Gulfstream Park West. However, his second shot at No. 3000 – should Souper Watson come up short in Race 3 – is likely to come in Churchill Downs' Race 5, which has a scheduled post time a few minutes earlier than Race 6 at Gulfstream Park West, according to Equibase.

Gary Barber's What a Beaut, a 4-year-old daughter of Beau Choix, finished second in a Nov. 2 optional claiming allowance at Gulfstream Park West n her first start since May.

Casse has an additional entry at Churchill and two entries at Woodbine following Gulfstream Park West's Race 6 on Thursday.

A native of Indiana, Casse took out his trainer's license at the age of 17 in Massachusetts. He saddled his first career winner Joe's Coming in 1979 and his first graded stakes winner in 1984 when winning the Jamaica (G3) at Belmont Park with Raja's Shark. A 12-time Sovereign Award winner, Casse is ranked sixth in North America this year in wins (171) and purse earnings ($10.777). Just a few of Casse's many highlights include saddling winners in the 2019 Preakness (War of Will) and 2019 Belmont (Sir Winston) and training two-time champion Tepin, winner of the Queen Anne Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot.

Casse has won training titles at Woodbine, Keeneland, Churchill and Turfway. He will become the 34th horsemen to win 3000 races.

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Hall Of Fame Trainer Gary Jones, Conditioner Of Turkoman, Passes At Age 76

News regarding the passing of retired Hall of Fame trainer Gary Jones hit hard at Santa Anita Monday morning, as word circulated that Jones had passed away following a lengthy illness at age 76 at his home in Del Mar.

The son of one of California's all time training greats, Gary Jones was born June 16, 1944 in Long Beach and he was unquestionably destined for a life at the racetrack, which he certainly made the most of.

After an extended apprenticeship with his father, the legendary Farrell “Wild Horse” Jones, Gary Jones took over the Jones Stable in 1974 and from there, took it to new heights, as the barn produced an incredible 104 stakes winners over the next 22 years, including 1986 Eclipse Award winning Older Horse, Turkoman.

A trainer who redefined hands-on horsemanship, Jones operated a split stable between Santa Anita and Hollywood Park for several years and he had a bushel basket full of speeding tickets to prove it.

“I gotta seem 'em go myself,” he once said, when asked why he felt compelled to watch a set or two of his horses train in Inglewood prior to blasting up the Harbor Freeway back to Arcadia in time to oversee the training of his Santa Anita-based charges. “I've got good people, but I just can't take somebody's else's word for it. I want to see them myself.”

A two-time winner of the Santa Anita Handicap—in 1992 with eventual Hall of Famer Best Pal and in 1994, via disqualification, with Stuka, Jones ranks eighth on Santa Anita's all time Winter/Spring win list with 576 victories and he is currently ninth in Santa Anita stakes-won with 72.

Jones, who was a fierce advocate for California racing, trained an incredible 104 stakes winners prior to his retirement in 1996 that included Kostroma, Quiet American, Time to Explode, Lakeway and Wishing Well, who would go on to become the dam of 1989 Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.

Gary Jones is survived by his wife Joanie and two sons, trainer Marty and David, who is a Los Angeles-based attorney.

Services are pending.

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Asmussen, Closing In On All-Time Training Record, Will Saddle Three In Preakness

Steve Asmussen last week became only the second trainer to win 9,000 races, the landmark win coming on Troy Ounce in the second race at Oklahoma City's Remington Park. That left him 446 victories — since whittled to 437 heading into Friday's racing — shy of becoming the sport's all-time winningest trainer, with the late Dale Baird accruing 9,445 in a career spanning 1961-2007.

Only 15 of Asmussen's wins have come at Pimlico Race Course, but they've accounted for 11 graded stakes and more than $3.3 million in purses, including Preakness (G1) victories in 2007 with two-time Horse of the Year Curlin and two years later with the filly and 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. Asmussen's Pimlico wins have come out of 57 starters after going 0 for 10 from 1998 through 2006.

Now Asmussen will try to win the Preakness for the third time with a trio of horses: George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player, Winchell Thoroughbreds' Pneumatic and Calumet Farm's Excession.

Asmussen also plans to run Winchell Thoroughbreds' Tenfold in the Pimlico Special (G3), a race he won last year after finishing a close third in the 2018 Preakness to eventual Triple Crown winner Justify. Asmussen has nominated horses to other stakes at Pimlico and expects to again be a presence at Old Hilltop.

“We think we will have a lot of live action for the weekend, and I expect a couple of winners to add to the total,” said Asmussen, the 2017 and 2018 winner of Pimlico's $50,000 bonus to the trainer whose horses earn the most points racing in the Preakness festival's stakes. “At this stage, we're just blessed with some extremely talented horses and it is an important event for us. Preakness weekend has always been a big deal to us, and we've been fortunate to have fastest-enough horses to run in the races they offer.”

Max Player officially entered the Preakness picture on Wednesday, two days after a sparkling workout of 1:00 1/5 at Churchill Downs, the fastest of 21 works that day at the distance. While Asmussen is well-known for putting a significant work into his horses 12 days before a race, he is not a trainer who drills his horses or goes in expecting an extremely fast work. So when his horses do that, handicappers have learned to pay extra attention.

“He's an extremely impressive horse and I think he's doing really well,” Asmussen said. “His work Monday was excellent. His gallop-out was huge. He came out of it in very good shape, went back to the track with a whole lot of energy. Very exciting horse at the right time.

Hall sent Max Player to Steve Asmussen a couple of weeks before the Kentucky Derby (G1), in which he closed from well back to be fifth. The colt had previously been trained by New York-based Linda Rice, including winning Aqueduct's Withers (G3) and finishing third in the Belmont (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1), both won by Derby runner-up Tiz the Law.

“We've secured Paco Lopez to ride him,” Asmussen said. “We're hoping he's able to stay a little closer, not give himself a margin that is impossible to overcome with the Preakness being a little shorter than the Derby. But he is doing really well. He's a very clean-legged, good-moving horse with a great attitude.”

Excession hasn't raced since he was second by a fast-closing three-quarters of a length at 82-1 odds in Oaklawn Park's Rebel Stakes (G2). That March 14 race was won by Nadal, who before being injured was one of the top choices for the Kentucky Derby.

A son of Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags, Excession will be ridden by Sheldon Russell, won of Maryland's leading riders.

“He needed some time after the Rebel,” Asmussen said of Excession. “He's been working well recently. His race against Nadal was very impressive. Just a weird year that he's allowed him to take a break and come back” and still make a Triple Crown race.

Pneumatic won Monmouth Park's TVG.com Pegasus Stakes in his last start to run his record to 3 for 5, with a fourth in the Belmont Stakes. Asmussen also is shooting for a third victory in the $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3), including a repeat with Tenfold. That son of Curlin loves Pimlico, having finished a close third in the foggy running of the 2018 Preakness Stakes won by Triple Crown hero Justify.

Like Pneumatic, Tenfold is owned by Asmussen's long-time client Winchell Thoroughbreds.

Joe Bravo, who was aboard for the Pegasus, will be back on Pneumatic for the Preakness, Asmussen said. “We feel great about how he's doing, knowing that this is by far the toughest race he's ever been in.

“I believe it's quite obvious there are some extremely talented 3-year-olds left that are doing very well. It ought to be a great race. Pneumatic, coming off his lifetime best, deserves the opportunity.”

Tenfold has ground out $1.1 million the hard way, winning last year's Pimlico Special and Saratoga's Jim Dandy (G2) in 2018 while earning many more checks by finishing second, third and fourth in 19 career races. When he returns to Pimlico, Tenfold will be attempting to win for the first time since the 2019 Special 10 races ago.

“Solid horse. Right now it's not easy to find lucrative purses for horses that need to run as far as he does,” Asmussen said. “The Pimlico Special was probably equal to his Jim Dandy victory. He's a Grade 2 winner of a million dollars. He's a pretty damn good horse.”

In his last two starts, Tenfold shipped to California for a third in Santa Anita's Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) then second in the Charles Town Classic (G2). “He's huge,” Asmussen said at Churchill Downs. “I don't think the tight turns of the Charles Town Classic suited him. But this year's calendar has made finding a suitable spot for most horses difficult.”

Pneumatic and Tenfold will ship in from Saratoga, where their training is being overseen by Asmussen chief assistant Scott Blasi.

Asmussen currently is the meet-leading trainer at Churchill Downs (where he became the all-time win leader in June), Lone Star Park, Remington Park and Louisiana Downs. The record-breaking and goal-oriented horseman isn't shy about acknowledging he wants to be racing's all-time win leader.

“I read it or I heard it somewhere that if they don't want it to be important, then why do they keep count?” he said with a laugh. “Right now, after reaching a goal as significant as 9,000 wins, you feel a great amount of gratitude for the opportunities that we've been given and the effort that all the help has put into it to get it done.”

At his current strike rate, Asmussen figures to be the sport's all-time win leader within 1 1/2 years. Then what?

“The open-ended, unanswered question of what's next, then every victory you lift your arms and say, 'new world record,'” he said cheerfully. “Every one you win, if you get fortunate enough to get to it, and afterward, you're the only one who ever did it.”

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‘Very Excited, And A Little Bit Nervous’: Baffert Readies Maximum Security For San Diego Handicap

Asked about champion Maximum Security during Wednesday's media teleconference organized by the NTRA, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert admitted to mixed feelings ahead of the colt's start in Saturday's Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar.

“When I see him train, he trains like a really top horse,” Baffert said. “That's what I see, and I'm actually very excited, and a little bit nervous. I feel a little added pressure; there's a lot of pressure when you're around good horses.”

In his most recent start, the Gary and Mary West homebred won the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup over Midnight Bisou. Since that effort at the end of February, the story around Maximum Security shifted from his historic Kentucky Derby disqualification in 2019 to the federal indictment of his former trainer, Jason Servis, on March 9, 2020.

Maximum Security was given a full medical evaluation and some down time, then transferred to Baffert's care in Southern California. His first gallop for Baffert was in late April; his first work not until June 1.

In his first start for Baffert, the 4-year-old son of New Year's Day will face a field of six others going 1 1/16 miles over Del Mar's main track. Maximum Security will break from post position five under a new rider, Abel Cedillo.

Regular jockey Luis Saez would be aboard the colt, except that he recently returned a positive test for COVID-19 and will be quarantined for the next two weeks. That left Baffert searching for a new rider, and his go-to big race jockey Mike Smith was already booked to be in New Jersey to ride Authentic in the Haskell.

Cedillo had committed to ride a horse for Mark Glatt in the San Diego, but Glatt let him out of the commitment when the trainer decided not to run his horse against Maximum Security.

“He sort of has the same kind of style [as Saez]; he's a strong rider, he's aggressive,” Baffert said of Cedillo. “He won on Fighting Mad for Gary and Mary West [the G2 Santa Maria on May 30 at Santa Anita], and he's won some races for me. He can handle pressure. I'm happy that I have him here.”

As is typical of Servis' style, Maximum Security had been used to turning in slow and steady morning workouts, more like two-minute licks than speedy breezes. Over the past six weeks, Baffert has focused on acclimating the colt to his style of training, working a bit faster, and his most recent breeze was a sharp five-furlong move in :59.60 on July 11 at Del Mar.

“To be around, he's a big, strong, beautiful horse,” Baffert said. “He's been doing everything well.”

Still, Baffert told the Paulick Report over the weekend that the colt may need a race, coming off the five-month break since the Saudi Cup.

“I feel I've done as much with him as I can for this,” Baffert said on Sunday. “I've been working him in company. He's a lazy horse in the morning and I can see now why they may ran him for $16,000 (maiden claiming) first out. He's a really smart horse; a lot of class, and a really intelligent horse.”

Maximum Security has been assigned 127 pounds under the handicap conditions of the 1 1/16-mile San Diego, five more than Higher Power (winner of the G1 Pacific Classic in 2019) and Midcourt (G2 San Pasqual winner in 2020). No horse since Native Diver toted 131 pounds in 1965 has carried more weight in winning the San Diego Handicap. California Chrome won under 126 pounds in 2016 in his first start since winning the G1 Dubai World Cup.

The San Diego Handicap field from the rail with jockeys and weights in parenthesis: Higher Power (TBD, 122); Ax Man (J.C. Diaz, Jr., 118); Midcourt (Juan Hernandez, 122); Dark Vader (Umberto Rispoli, 118); Maximum Security (Abel Cedillo, 127); Combatant (Drayden Van Dyke, 121) and Sharp Samurai (Edwin Maldonado, 119).

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