Casse, Attard both double up in Grade 2 Nassau

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Reigning Canadian Horse of the Year Fev Rover will try to win the Grade 2, $175,000 Nassau for the second year in a row under Patrick Husbands on an excellent five-stakes card Saturday at Woodbine.

Fev Rover was razor sharp in her come-from-behind score over Moira on a rain-softened main turf in the one-mile event last year. She subsequently won a pair of Grade 1 stakes, the Beverly D. and E.P. Taylor, before capping her season with an 11th-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

When exiting the sidelines June 7 in the Grade 1 New York Stakes at Saratoga, Fev Rover wound up sixth after a wide, stalking trip under Javier Castellano. Trainer Mark Casse said the 5-year-old was uncharacteristically unruly before the race.

“It was very crowded and she got very upset prior to the race,” Casse said. “Some horses can’t take the eighth of a mile walk over, where you have to go with people on both sides yelling and screaming. She got really fired up, even before we got her saddled.

“She hadn’t run in a long time and I thought her performance was good. That was a helluva field. Javier felt like she’s as good as ever. He said she got tired. Part of why she got tired was because of her pre-race antics. She threw him twice in the post parade. She was just fired up. Now, we’re going to cut back to a mile. She’s been training good.”

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Casse also entered Forever Dixie, who took her season opener in allowance company on the Gulfstream Park grass before ending up third in the Grade 3 Belle Mahone on the Tapeta.

Trainer Kevin Attard sends out a couple of accomplished new acquisitions, Cairo Consort and Full Count Felicia.

Cairo Consort, Canada’s champion 2-year-old filly in 2022, went to trainer Todd Pletcher after going through a sale for $875,000 in November 2022 and she won three stakes for him. She was transferred to Attard after running seventh in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile on May 4 at Churchill and was sold through a Fasig-Tipton digital sale for $820,000 earlier this month.

“She’s done everything right,” Attard said. “She’s had a few solid breezes locally. It seems like she has a liking for our turf course. Hopefully, she runs one of those races again.”

Full Count Felicia romped in the All Along Stakes on Sept. 16 at Pimlico and took the Grade 3 Suwannee River on Dec. 30 at Gulfstream. Most recently on Feb. 3, she faded to sixth after pressing the pace in the Grade 3 Endeavour at Tampa Bay Downs.

“She had a little time off after her last race and came to me with the Nassau in mind,” Attard said. “She’s been going pretty steady. She does a lot in the mornings in her works. I like her form. She’s versatile. She’s won on the lead and from off the pace. That should bode well for her here. She should suit this turf course well.”

Among the others in the 10-horse field are Fast as Flight and Implicated, who are coming off lucrative victories at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Marty Drexler, Fast as Flight captured the Grade 3 Modesty after a perfect stalking trip traveling 1 1/8 miles over yielding ground.

Implicated came from third to land a third-level allowance with a $100,000 claiming option going a mile in her first start for trainer Brendan Walsh.

Highlander Stakes

Casse sends out Canadian champion Filo Di Arianna and Step Forward in the other Grade 2 turf stakes on the card, the $200,000 Highlander going six furlongs.

Filo Di Arianna, the Sovereign Award-winning champion male sprinter and male grass runner in 2022, is stretching out off a wide seventh going 5 1/2 furlongs in the Grade 1 Jaipur at Saratoga.

“It was a little too short,” Casse said. “The key to him is he wants three-quarters or seven-eighths or a one-turn mile. That’s his game. It’s just so limited where you can get that.”

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Oceanic ships in from Churchill for his first start since winning a 5 1/2-furlong allowance with a 99 Beyer Speed Figure at Keeneland in April. He was beaten a half-length in both of his Grade 2 Woodbine starts in 2023, including a second in last year’s Highlander.

“We think he likes Woodbine’s turf course just as much as Keeneland’s,” trainer Jordan Blair said. “He ran so well over both, even on yielding going and the second go-round. That’s a major factor as far as coming back [to Woodbine]. He seems to really love that course.”

County Final, Saratoga Flash, and Witty are the other shippers in the nine-horse field.

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