Casse likes his chances in Wonder Where

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Skippingall Theway and See the Wind head a wide-open 11-horse field in Sunday's $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes at Woodbine.

The Wonder Where, for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, is the third leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara. The winners of the first two races in the series, Woodbine Oaks winner Gold Strike and Bison City Stakes winner Ready and Alluring, have bypassed the 1 1/4-mile grass event.

Skippingall Theway beat $50,000 maidens when she debuted April 30, and then ran second in a six-furlong turf allowance. After finishing second in a nine-furlong allowance in June, she was second in the Bison City at Fort Erie.

Skippingall Theway is owned by trainer Mark Casse in partnership with one of his employees, Mike Goubault.

"We bought her for $20,000 as a yearling," Casse said. "She's a beautiful filly - big and strong. We really liked her last year, and we were going to run her in the Shady Well Stakes, but she cracked her femur coming out of the gate, and we had to give her the rest of the year off. She's repaid us for our patience. She seems to get better with each race."

Casse believes Skippingall Theway, a daughter of Skip Away and a Kingmambo mare, is made-to-order for the Wonder Where distance.

"With her pedigree, I think she should be able to run two and half miles," Casse said. "She's already shown that she can run on the grass."

See the Wind struggled in her two starts on the main track at Keeneland in April before graduating here in front-running style at a mile on the grass. Three weeks ago, she cut back to 6 1/2 furlongs in the Ontario Damsel Stakes, and wound up second to Top Ten List, who came back to take the Passing Mood Stakes.

Trainer Mark Frostad said the Ontario Damsel was not his preferred way for getting See the Wind to the Wonder Where, but he had no other options.

"We had to get a race into her," Frostad explained. "Sprinting isn't her trip, but she got a good race out of it, and got stakes-placed."

Frostad described See the Wind as a large, gangly filly with lots of ability. "She's got a great stride on her," he said. "I don't think the distance will be a problem for her."

Recent maiden winners in the field who could have an impact are Invitational, Pipers Honour, and Mariaburg, who was fourth in the Damsel after graduating at 1 1/16 miles on grass.