Casse will skip the $1-million Listed King’s Plate at Woodbine next Saturday to focus on winning the $600,000 GI Alabama Stakes at Saratoga with two promising fillies — his first attempt at capturing the prestigious 3-year-old filly race.
The Hall of Fame trainer will send La Cara (Street Sense) and Nitrogen (Medaglia d’Oro) to the starting gate in Saratoga’s premier race for sophomore fillies, despite having won the King’s Plate three times previously.
La Cara completed her final Alabama preparation Friday morning, breezing four furlongs on the main track in :49.77 (28/52) with exercise rider Mary Rose Hitt aboard.
“She went perfect,” Casse said outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch. “She is always that way. The crazy thing is that she could go in 46 and still do it effortlessly. I told Mary to go in about 50 and she went in 49.3 so that is pretty good.”
Hitt, who has partnered with La Cara since her 2-year-old season including in California for the Breeders’ Cup, expressed confidence in the filly’s abilities.
“I love riding her,” Hitt said after the work. “She loves to train; she knows her job and you always know what you’re going to get with her. Every work, you are sitting against her the whole time. She always wants to do more.”
La Cara, owned and bred by Tracy Framer, captured the GI Acorn Stakes at Saratoga on June 6. Her planned start in the GI Coaching Club American Oaks on July 19 was derailed when a quarantine was placed on her barn following a case of strangles detected in another horse.
“The quarantine was definitely a crazy deal,” Casse said.
The filly has won three of five starts this year, including the GI Ashland. She finished off the board in the GI Kentucky Oaks after tiring over Churchill Downs’ sloppy surface, but demonstrated her affinity for wet going at Saratoga when winning the Acorn gate-to-wire by three lengths.
A victory in the Alabama would position La Cara at the forefront of the division.
Casse will be represented in the King’s Plate by Ashley’s Archer (ON) (Karakontie {Jpn}) and filly No Time (ON) (Not This Time), but his personal focus remains on Saratoga.
“I have to be here,” Casse said about staying for the Alabama. “The Alabama is a race I have been dreaming about since I was a little boy.”
Motion Divides Attention Between Colonial and Saratoga
Trainer Graham Motion has chosen to be at Colonial Downs Saturday where he’ll saddle End of Romance (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) in the GII $500,000 Secretariat Stakes and Beach Bomb (SAf) (Lancaster Bomber) in the GII $500,000 Beverly D. Stakes.
While in Virginia, Motion will keep close tabs on his undefeated filly Laurelin (Ire) (Zarak {Fr}), who headlines the GII, $500,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational on the Mellon Turf Course.
Owned by Newstead Stables LLC, Laurelin enters as the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the six-horse field with Kendrick Carmouche in the irons.
The talented filly has won all four career starts and faces the 1 3/16-mile distance for the first time after three consecutive victories at a mile.
“Nothing makes me think that she shouldn’t handle it,” Motion said by phone from Virginia Friday afternoon. “Pedigree…the way she trains.”
Laurelin has captured three ungraded stakes, most recently the Penn Oaks at Penn National on June 27. Motion had considered taking her to Royal Ascot earlier this season before opting for a more conservative campaign.
“I really thought about it, but I kind of got cold feet about it,” he said. “I always thought she was of that quality. Once we did not go to England, I wanted to keep things conservative with races like these in mind for the summer.”
Motion credits trainer Jamie Osborne, who prepared Laurelin in England before she came to the United States from the 2023 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.
“(Osborne) had suggested she was of good quality,” Motion said. “And she really has been a pleasure. She hasn’t skipped a beat. We liked her as much as any 2-year-old we had last year, and she has proven to be the real deal.”
Motion will also send Heredia (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}) to the GII, $200,000 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at Del Mar.
McGaughey Aims for First Arlington Million
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey sends a formidable duo to Colonial Downs for Saturday’s GI Arlington Million as he seeks his first victory in the prestigious race.
Integration (Quality Road), owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing LLC, enters as the 8-5 morning-line favorite, while Magic Cap Stables’ Fort Washington (War Front) is listed at 4-1 in the eight-horse field.
Integration, who will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, has won three of four starts at Colonial Downs, though McGaughey insists the horse’s affinity for the track wasn’t the deciding factor.
“I’ve had this on my mind for a while,” he said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track Friday morning. “He likes Colonial, but he has run good everywhere. He has been training good, he is fresh, so let’s see what happens.”
The 5-year-old has been knocking on the door in major stakes this year without breaking through. He finished second by a head to Deterministic (Liam’s Map) in the GI Manhattan at Saratoga on June 8 and lost the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational by a neck to Spirit of St. Louis (Medaglia d’Oro) earlier in the season.
Integration has compiled a career record of five wins, four seconds and a third from 14 starts. He finished second in last year’s Arlington Million, 1 3/4 lengths behind Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), who runs in Saturday’s GI, $750,000 Sword Dancer at Saratoga.
“He deserves to win one of these,” McGaughey said of Integration.
McGaughey will remain at Saratoga while his son, Reeve, handles saddling duties in Virginia.
