In Arlington Million, World Approval can add to Casse's banner year

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Mark Casse swears he doesn’t know how many horses he trains.

“Three people have asked me this week how many horses we have, and at any given moment, I honestly don’t know,” Casse said. “I don’t ever count. I think it’s bad luck.”

“More than 100” is as specific as Casse will get, but suffice it to say, there is plenty of stock split between strings currently stabled at Woodbine, Saratoga, Churchill, and Gulfstream. Plus, there are the layups and 2-year-olds not yet at the track at Casse’s farm near Ocala, Fla. Through Monday, Casse had started 788 horses this year, and barring the unforeseen, he’ll blow past last year’s career-high 896 runners.

But Casse not only is training more horses, he is training more good horses. Tepin was a champion in 2015 and is well on her way to being one again this year. Catch a Glimpse was a 2015 Eclipse Award finalist for leading 2-year-old filly and has gone 5 for 5 this year, all in stakes, with a win over males in the Penn Mile and a victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks.

Classic Empire is pointed to the Grade 1 Hopeful, and another talented 2-year-old, Thirstforlife, runs in the Best Pal at Del Mar this weekend. And at Arlington on Saturday, Casse, 54, can add the Arlington Million to his expanding treasure trove with World Approval.

World Approval, one of 13 entrants in the Million, is the second choice on the morning line following a win in the Grade 1 United Nations. Before that, he was a good third behind America’s best turf horse, Flintshire, in the Grade 1 Manhattan, second by a neck to the high-class Divisidero in the Grade 1 Turf Classic, and second with a less-than-ideal trip in the Mervin Muniz Handicap at Fair Grounds. Despite the active campaign, World Approval has trained with verve for the Million, according to his trainer.

“I think World Approval is a horse that just continues to improve,” said Casse.

World Approval ran once last year at Arlington, winning the American Derby by a neck over Crittenden, a nice horse who is nothing like Million material. World Approval's 2015 campaign continued along that vein, solid but below Grade 1 class. But Casse thought there was more to the gelding, who was bred and is owned by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Farm and is out of the great broodmare Win Approval, the dam of graded stakes winners Revved Up, Miesque’s Approval, and Za Approval.

“Near the end of last year, I said to Mrs. Weber, ‘I know you love giving horses time off. He’s not big enough or strong enough to play with the big boys yet, but he might be able to if he gets some time off,’ ” Casse said. “When we got him back from Live Oak, the first time Norman breezed him in south Florida, he said, ‘This is a different horse, dad.’ ”

“Norman” is Norman Casse, Mark’s son and one among a strong group of assistant trainers. Norman has worked closely with Tepin throughout her career and traveled with her to England when she won the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot this year. “Norman, among others, has definitely helped us rise toward the top,” Casse said. And beyond the sheer number of winners, the stable indeed is rising.

Casse first began training in 1979, spent several years managing Mockingbird Farm in Florida, and went back to training full time in 1998. Since then, nearly every year has been better than the last. The Casse stable already has 16 graded stakes wins this year, one fewer than all of 2015, and $9.35 million in stable earnings, well on the way to surpassing the career-best $13.7 million from 2015. Casse’s client base is deep, his reach seemingly ever expanding. With how many horses exactly? Who really cares?

“I’m really just enjoying all this,” Casse said. “I’m not asking why.”

A previous version of the article misstated Mark Casse's earnings in 2015 and thus far this year. Casse's stable earnings were $13.7 million in 2015 and are $9.35 million through Aug. 9.