Casse: Running Golden Glider in Belmont is no-brainer
ELMONT, N.Y. - The best part of finishing second in the Peter Pan Stakes was that it earned Golden Glider a fees-paid berth into the June 11 Belmont Stakes. So, to trainer Mark Casse, it makes pointing the horse to the Belmont Stakes a virtual no-brainer.
“I don’t know what you take out of it,” Casse said, “but we got a free ride into the Belmont.”
Under the conditions of the Peter Pan, run here May 14, the first two finishers of the race get their entry and starting fees for the Belmont Stakes - totaling $30,000 - waived by the New York Racing Association. The free-roll applies to both We the People, the Peter Pan winner, and Golden Glider.
In 2019, Sir Winston, also trained by Casse, finished second in the Peter Pan. Those same conditions were in play, so he and owner Tracy Farmer took advantage of their free ride into the Belmont and were rewarded when Sir Winston won the third leg of the Triple Crown at odds of 10-1.
Before the Peter Pan, Sir Winston had finished seventh in the Blue Grass and fifth in the Tampa Bay Derby. Before the Peter Pan, Golden Glider finished fourth in the Blue Grass and fourth in the Tampa Bay Derby.
When Sir Winston finished second in the Peter Pan, he was beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Global Campaign. In this year’s Peter Pan, Golden Glider finished 10 1/4 lengths behind We the People in a race run over a sealed, wet track.
“To me, the winner was very impressive,” Casse said. “The question is was it influenced by the track? Because if it wasn’t we’re all in trouble.”
Acknowledging how impressive We the People looked in the Peter Pan, Casse said, “You know that expression I wouldn’t trade places with anybody? I’d take him.”
In the Peter Pan, Golden Glider sat in fifth position about three lengths off the pace until We the People just widened his advantage under Flavien Prat. Golden Glider did hold off Electability by a nose for second.
“The only disappointment for me was I like the race, I like the conditioning that you get from it,” Casse said. “But given the condition of the track, I really don’t know where I’m at.”
On Sunday, Golden Glider worked five furlongs in 1:01.50 over a fast Belmont main track. Belmont clockers caught Golden Glider in splits of 13.13 seconds, 25.30, 37.03 and caught him galloping out in 1:14.85.
“I thought he worked well,” said Casse, who received a video of the stretch run from assistant Shane Tripp.
*** Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said that Manny Franco would ride Skippylongstocking in the Belmont Stakes, replacing Junior Alvarado. Skippylongstocking finished fifth in the Preakness Stakes.
*** Brigadier General, a son of Street Sense who is 1 for 8, is under consideration for the Belmont Stakes, trainer Dallas Stewart said Sunday. Brigadier General, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, won a maiden race at Keeneland in April and finished fourth in a first-level allowance at Churchill Downs on May 12.
“We’re mulling it around,” Stewart said. “We don’t have any decisions yet.”
Stewart, known for crashing the exotics with longshots in big races, has yet to do that in the Belmont Stakes. He is winless with seven starters in the Belmont, his best finish being with Dollar Bill, who ran fourth in 2001.
- additional reporting by Mike Welsch