Casse impressed with Counting Stars, points to Alabama as next start
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Mark Casse was already impressed by his filly Counting Stars’ performance in winning Saturday’s Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga by 4 1/4 lengths. He was even more impressed when he realized his 3-year-old filly ran 1 1/8 miles nearly a full second faster than the older male Wynstock did winning an allowance race at the same distance earlier on the card.
“Three-year-old fillies don’t do that going a mile and an eighth,” Casse said. “You might see it sprinting one time, but not at a mile and an eighth.”
Counting Stars ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.98 for the fastest clocking of the CCA Oaks in 17 runnings at that distance. Before 2010, it had been run at 1 1/4 miles. Counting Stars earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance, the highest figure earned by a 3-year-old filly at a route distance this year. Mashallah earned a 106 in April sprinting.
As of Sunday, Casse plans to stick with his plan of pointing Counting Stars to the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama on Aug. 22. The Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers, in which she would have to face males, is the following week. It wasn’t a subject Casse wanted to broach on Sunday morning.
The Alabama is “where we’re going right now,” Casse said.
For Casse to run a filly against the boys, it has to make sense. In the case of Nitrogen, last year’s Alabama winner and 3-year-old filly champion, Casse feels there is a lot to gain running her in the Grade 1 Whitney against a star-studded cast of older dirt male horses. A victory there could put Nitrogen in the running for Horse of the Year.
As for Counting Stars, she is already the leader of the 3-year-old filly division. She figures a heavy favorite in the Alabama, one of the most prestigious races for 3-year-old fillies in the country. The Alabama, like the Travers, is run at 1 1/4 miles.
“I don’t see a problem, do you?” Casse said when asked about the distance.
In the Alabama, Counting Stars displayed heretofore unseen speed as she basically went gate to wire in defeating Kentucky Oaks winner Always a Runner.
“She’s got it, it just hasn’t been used,” Casse said of Counting Stars’ speed.
Counting Stars, a daughter of Honor A.P. owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, added the CCA Oaks to a resume that includes the Grade 1 Acorn and the Grade 2 Fantasy this year. Counting Stars has made six starts this year and 10 career starts since last Sept. 25.
“She’s had a long campaign, so the question comes after the Alabama, if she runs well, do you want to attack older mares?” Casse asked.
Trainer Chad Brown will have a lot to consider when it comes to the Alabama. Always a Runner, the Kentucky Oaks winner who finished second to Counting Stars in both the Acorn and CCA Oaks, is unlikely to point to that race.
“She tried hard and did show up and ran a respectable race both times, but I got to step back and look to see, has she regressed just a shade off her [Kentucky] Oaks and why,” Brown said. “Is it the track? Is it her, does she just need more time? I’m not really sure. I’m just going to observe how she trains. The good thing is she looked good this morning and like I said she gave it a good try, she just wasn’t good enough.”
Brown had to scratch Directive from the Coaching Club with a bruised foot. But by Sunday, after some work on the foot and a modification of her shoe around the area, Directive was sound Sunday morning. Brown said Directive could return to the worktab next weekend. He hasn’t discounted the Alabama, pending how she’s doing and who is running.
On Friday, Brown sent out My Gun’s Loaded to a three-length first-level allowance win going one mile. Brown said she could be considered for the Alabama.
“I know it’s a big jump, but it’s a very unique race when you’re talking about 3-year-old fillies going a mile and a quarter,” Brown said. “Do I wish her next start was a mile and an eighth? Yeah, but I’d consider it.”
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