$1.5 million buy Curlin's Honor begins rewarding Casse's faith

Mark Casse has been high on Curlin’s Honor for a long time – even before he purchased him in May for a sale-record $1.5 million at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training at Timonium for John Oxley and Breeze Easy LLC.

The high-ticket colt rewarded his trainer’s faith, and began earning back that price tag, by battling on for a neck victory in his debut going six furlongs on Saturday at Keeneland.

“I feel good – a little relief,” Casse said. “It’s kind of a different thing when you train those expensive horses. They’re fun to buy, but there’s a little added pressure on them. We train for great people and they understand. I think this colt’s going to end up being good. He’s not a sprinter.”

Bred in Florida by Miller Racing, Curlin’s Honor is by Curlin and out of the winning Stormin Fever mare Franscat, whose seven foals to race are all winners, including stakes winners Swinger’s Party and Hubba Shake, and Grade 3-placed Powhatan County. It is the family of Grade 1 winners Ogygian and Honour and Glory.

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Curlin’s Honor was purchased for $475,000 as a yearling by Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale. Casse was the underbidder that day, and continued to keep tabs on the colt’s development as he waited for the noted pinhookers to send him back through an auction ring.

“I watched him train all winter long,” Casse said. “And they had him in the [Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream] sale, and he had sore shins and they went to Timonium, so I’ve been following him forever.”

Curlin’s Honor breezed a furlong in 10 seconds at the Midlantic sale’s under-tack preview, turning heads by tying for the fastest time. As a result, Casse had to stretch to $1.5 million, the highest price ever paid at that auction. But the trainer felt the colt had only showed the beginnings of his talent.

“The funny thing about the Curlins, the ones that I’ve trained, I’ve found that they’re decent work horses, but they’re actually better racehorses,” Casse said. “They actually run better than they train. I thought his work at Timonium was fantastic.”

Casse unveiled another expensive juvenile on Saturday at Keeneland, as Conquistador finished second, beaten 1 3/4 lengths by Rubus, in his career debut. The Tiznow colt sold for $2.45 million at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training, making him the most expensive juvenile sold in North America this year. He races for the Coolmore team and partners, including Oxley.

“He’s a pretty good horse, too,” Casse said. “He took the worst of it. If you watch our horses, they usually come back and fire even harder the second time, and I think especially with that colt, that’s what you’ll see with him.”

– additional reporting by Nicole Russo