Mark Casse | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mighty Heart Doubles Up as Canadian Horse of the Year

Canada's 2020 Horse of the Year Mighty Heart (Dramedy) took home the same honors for the 2021 season at the 47th Annual Sovereign Awards, hosted by The Jockey Club of Canada Thursday at the Universal Eventspace just outside of Toronto. A homebred for Larry Cordes, Mighty Heart won the GII Autumn S. and GIII Dominion Day S. in Canada, as well as the Blame S. at Churchill Downs. The popular one-eyed 4-year-old had won the same award last year on the strength of his victories in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales S. The Josie Carroll-trained Mighty defeated Pink Lloyd (Old Forester) for Horse of the Year honors by a margin of 63 votes to 55 votes. Town Cruise (Town Prize) was third in the voting with 34. Mighty Heart was also named Champion Older Main Track Male.

Robert Tiller's Pink Lloyd, the now-retired Entourage Stables campaigner, added to his long list of accomplishments and was named Champion Male Sprinter for the fifth consecutive year. Pink Lloyd was the Canadian Horse of the Year in 2017 and had also previously been Champion Older Dirt Male and Champion Older Horse.

The Brandon Evan Greer-owned and -trained Town Cruise was named Champion Male Turf Horse after winning the GI Woodbine Mile S.

Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse was named Outstanding Trainer for the 11th straight year and for the 14th time overall. His 27 Canadian stakes wins in 2021 were a personal record and his list of champions continues to grow with an additional four champions in 2021: God of Love (Cupid) was named Champion 2-Year-old Male, Mrs. Barbara (Bodemeister) was named Champion 2-Year-Old Female, Frosted Over (Frosted) was named Champion 3-Year-Old Male, and Skygaze (American Pharoah) was named Champion Older Main Track Female.

Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Plantation, who sends a number of horses to Casse, won its second straight Sovereign Award for Outstanding Owner with 19 Canadian wins and more than $1.4 million in earnings. Outstanding Breeder honors went to Sam-Son Farm, which led Canadian breeders in purse earnings with just over $2.6 million. Sam-Son has been a major player in Canadian racing for more than 50 years. It was the iconic farm's ninth outstanding breeder Sovereign Award. The Outstanding Groom award went to Denzil Fonseca, who has been a part of the Woodbine backstretch for 40 years. He has been with trainer Mike Doyle for the last 14 of those years.

Other equine awards went to Munnyfor Ro (Munnings) for Champion 3-Year-Old Female, Amalfi Coast (Tapizar) as Champion Female Sprinter, and Jolie Olimpica (Drosselmeyer) as Champion Female Turf Horse. Avie's Empire (Empire Maker) was named Canadian Broodmare of the Year. The 14-year-old unraced mare has produced 2018 2-year-old champion Avie's Flatter (Flatter), who won the GII Nearctic S. and GII Connaught Cup S. in 2021, as well as SW Avie's Mineshaft (Mineshaft) and GSP Avie's Mesa (Sky Mesa).

The Sovereign Award for Outstanding Jockey went to wunderkind Kazushi Kimura, who was a first-time nominee after only his fourth season riding in Canada. He had already won the Sovereign Award as Outstanding Apprentice twice, as well as an Eclipse Award for the same honor in the U.S. His 19% win rate in 2021 included 140 victories and over $5.1 million in purses. Boxer-turned-jockey Mauricio Malvaez won Outstanding Apprentice for the second consecutive year with a total of 28 victories and over $470,000 in earnings for the season.

Ivan Dalos, proprietor of Tall Oaks Farm, was recipient of the E. P. Taylor Award of Merit. Tall Oaks won its first Sovereign for Outstanding Breeder in 2018 and repeated the honor in 2020. It was his mare, Avie's Empire, who took home the aforementioned Outstanding Broodmare award. His broodmare band numbers more than three dozen with many a part of several generations of breeding by Dalos.

The final Sovereign Awards bestowed Thursday included Outstanding Photograph to Will Wong for his image entitled “Welcome Back,” Outstanding Writing to Hayley Morrison for the story “New Races, New Faces: How I Fell for The Fort,” which appeared on the Canadian Thoroughbred website, and Outstanding Audio Visual/Digital Broadcast to Woodbine Entertainment for airing of The Queen's Plate.

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ERC Returns for Fourth Season

Officially kicking off its fourth season, the Empire Racing Club (ERC) will offer a reduced membership price of $400 through the official re-launch date of May 1. Membership dues for both new and returning members will be $475 beginning May 2, 2022. Membership is open to both licensed and unlicensed enthusiasts looking to enjoy the social and educational benefits of the Club.

The ERC will once again be managed by famed race-caller Tom Durkin. Training the current roster of runners for the 2022 season are Hall of Famer Mark Casse; two-time Hall of Fame nominee Christophe Clement; and four-time leading trainer in New York, Linda Rice. ERC team runners currently include stakes winner Proven Strategies (Sky Mesa), in addition to Community Adjusted (Summer Front) and Freedomofthepress (Mshawish), who is entered to run at Aqueduct Saturday, Apr. 16.

“AND WE'RE OFF!!!!!!! Once again, the Empire Racing Club is off and running for another new year of New York Thoroughbred racing,” said ERC Managing Partner Tom Durkin. “The Empire Racing Club makes possible to members the thrill of owning a racehorse and being part of the game with a behind the scenes experience. The Club will have a number of runners to follow this year. It's what we call 'action'. See you in the winner's circle!”

Similarly to last season, ERC members receive regular updates about their horses via conference call, email and social media. The Club will offer the opportunity to visit the backstretch for morning training and the paddock when the ERC horses run, and will host dedicated ERC events.

“The new season will continue to feature the ERC Educational ZOOM Series in addition to the popular Race Day Events at NYRA tracks,” said ERC Coordinator Christina Bossinakis. “New for this year, the ERC will craft initiatives to offer interested members the opportunity to dip their toe into various levels of ownership, including the claiming game. Whether the goal is to enjoy the social scene, take advantage of the educational aspects or to gain a stake in the game, there will be something for everyone.”

Spearheaded by the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) in 2019, the ERC is a non-profit organization designed to introduce new fans to racehorse ownership.

For more information, visit www.empireracingclubny.com

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Short, But Sweet Field Set For Transylvania

A small, but competitive field of six sophomore colts are set to line up Friday in Keeneland's GIII Transylvania S. Two-time Transylvania winner Chad Brown saddles a third of the field in Verbal (Flintshire {GB}) and Napoleonic War (War Front). Rallying to a decisive score in his Belmont unveiling Oct. 10, Juddmonte homebred Verbal closed strongly to take Del Mar's GIII Cecil B. Demille S. at Del Mar next out Nov. 28. He is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in this sophomore bow.

His stablemate Napoleonic War is the longest shot on the morning line at 15-1 after charging from well back to dead-heat for the win in his Tampa debut Jan. 21.

Grand Sonata (Medaglia d'Oro) enters on a hot streak. The Todd Pletcher pupil is two-for-two this season with narrow victories in Gulfstream's Dania Beach S. Jan. 1 and GIII Kitten's Joy S. Feb. 5.

Mark Casse sends out a pair in here in Coinage (Tapit) and Credibility (Nyquist). Winner of the GIII With Anticipation S. last year, Coinage was third in the Kitten's Joy, but rebounded with a neck success in the Palm Beach S. in Hallandale Mar. 5. Third in the GII Bourbon S. last term, Credibility kicked off this season with an off-the-turf optional claimer win at Gulfstream Jan. 22, but could only manage sixth in the Palm Beach.

Rounding out the sextet is undefeated Sy Dog (Slumber {GB}), a dominant winner first out at Belmont Oct. 24, who rallied to victory in Aqueduct's Central Park S. next out Nov. 27.

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Sunday’s Insights: Hall of Famer-Trained Maidens in at Gulfstream

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

7th-GP, $60K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 4:07 p.m. ET
A trio of Hall of Fame barns send out five of the eight entrants in this elongated sprint. Todd Pletcher saddles Repole Stable and St Elias Stable's $560,000 KEESEP buy Gate Runner (Arrogate). Out of stakes-placed turf router Nerfertiti (Speightstown), he's half to MGSW dirt sprinter Engage (Into Mischief). Second dam Clearly a Queen (Lucky North) was a hard-knocking MGSW on the lawn. Pletcher will also be represented by Days of Yore (Street Sense), who appears to have been purchased privately from breeder Shadwell Farm by Waterford Stable.

Seventh timer Logico (Violence) hails for a different barn, but could provide further insight into another runner of Pletcher, Repole and Viola's–he was second with a career-best Beyer figure last out behind good-looking debut scorer Bright Future (Curlin).

Bill Mott's two-pronged attack includes newcomer Broken Spur (American Pharoah). The Mike Rutherford homebred ($275,000 KEESEP RNA) is the first foal out of SW/GSP Stageplay (Curlin), who took her own debut going 6 1/2 panels at two. Stakes-winning second dam Stage Stop (Valid Expectations) also produced a GSW juvenile and 2013 GI Preakness S. third Mylute (Midnight Lute).

Mott's other runner is OXO Equine's $675,000 KEESEP buy Mendenhall (Pioneerof the Nile), who missed the break and checked in seventh over track and trip Mar. 5. He has fired two bullets in the interim, including one from the gate. The dark bay is out of 2012 GII Fantasy S. winner and $1.2-million FTKNOV seller Mamma Kimbo (Discreet Cat), whose previous foals include SWs Balandeen (Bernardini) and Matwakel (California Chrome).

Shug McGaughey gets in on the action with Stuart Janney III homebred Breakwater (Flatter). The bay, who has alternated between dirt works and ones on the grass–which might ultimately proof his preferred surface–is out of he connections' 2009 GIII Violet S. winner Quiet Harbor (Silver Deputy), who is a half to GSWs Ironicus (Distorted Humor), On Leave (War Front), Norumbega (Tiznow) and Hunting (Coronado's Quest). TJCIS PPs

9th-GP, $43K, MOC ($50K), 3yo, 7 1/2fT, 5:10 p.m. ET
Live Oak Plantation and conditioner Mark Casse take advantage of Great Uncle (Uncle Mo)'s Florida-bred status as he takes on a softer bunch on debut without being risked for the tag. The rail-drawn bay is out Zo Impressive (Hard Spun), who won her first two starts over the local main track before finishing second in the 2012 GII Gulfstream Park Oaks. She reached the highest level in the GI Mother Goose S. at Belmont two starts later and has already produced MGSW Souper Tapit (Tapit). Zo Impressive is a daughter of GISW Zoftig (Cozzene) and half to big-figure earning GI Acorn S. heroine Zaftig (Gone West), who in turn has produced SW/MGSP Spinoff (Hard Spun) and SP Rugbyman (Tapit). Live Oak purchased Zoftig, while she was carrying Zo Impressive, for $1.5 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November sale. She was later sold for $1.1 million back in foal to Hard Spun at KEENOV '13.

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