Casse sends trio to take on Raging Bull, Set Piece in Woodbine Mile
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Leading trainer Mark Casse takes a strength-in-numbers approach into Saturday’s Grade 1 Woodbine Mile when he runs Ride a Comet, Olympic Runner, and March to the Arch in the 25th running of the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re in qualifier.
Ride a Comet, the 5-1 third choice in the 10-horse field, is unbeaten at Woodbine. When returning from a two-year layoff last fall, he won a conditioned allowance impressively before upsetting Pink Lloyd in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road.
Ride a Comet embarked on a turf campaign in the United Stakes over the winter, the highlight of which was a victory in the Grade 3 Tropical Turf at Gulfstream. The 6-year-old has been idle since ending up third in the Grade 2 Wise Dan at Churchill on June 26. He bypassed the local prep for the Woodbine Mile, the Grade 2 King Edward.
“I didn’t run him in the [King Edward] because we just didn’t feel like he was training as good as he can,” Casse said. “Since then, he’s trained very good. He’s very good right now. When he comes with his ‘A’ game, he’s as good as anybody.”
Antonio Gallardo picks up the mount on Ride a Comet, who won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in 2018 before going to the sidelines with a tendon injury.
Olympic Runner ended a five-race skid when he captured the one-mile King Edward after closing inside from fifth under Rafael Hernandez.
“I thought Raffie rode him really well,” Casse recalled. “There wasn’t a whole lot of pace up front, so he kept him a little closer.”
Horse-for-course March to the Arch was arguably best when a troubled second in last year’s Woodbine Mile. He won the Niagara Stakes over about 1 1/8 miles in his penultimate start and is exiting a belated third in the King Edward on Aug. 15.
“He was coming off a nine-furlong race and may have been a little flat,” Casse said regarding the King Edward. “He’s probably a little better horse with four or five weeks between races, so he’s had plenty of time to recover. Patrick Husbands is excited about how well he’s training.”
Peter Brant’s Raging Bull is the 2-1 morning-line favorite under Frankie Dettori, who is flying here to ride in four stakes this weekend.
Raging Bull is a three-time Grade 1 winner, all for trainer Chad Brown. He took the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile in his season opener at Keeneland and then was beaten a head in the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont before ending up sixth in the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga. He was elevated from fourth to third by disqualification after a troubled run in the 2019 Woodbine Mile.
“I think he’s a very exciting horse,” Dettori said. “A 6-year-old, he’s raced in all the best mile races in America. He’s probably going to take me around better than I will ride him around. He knows the game. He’s very solid. I’m pleased to get the call. I’m looking forward to it.”
Set Piece is 5-2 on the line, with a red-hot Joel Rosario riding for 2020 Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox.
A Juddmonte homebred, Set Piece has run consistently well without a break since early December and earned a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure in each of his last three races. He won the 1 1/16-mile Wise Dan from far off the pace as the favorite. His three-race win streak ended most recently when he was a slow-starting second to Got Stormy in the one-mile Fourstardave, for which he got a career-high 101 Beyer.
Cox won the Grade 1 Highlander here in 2018 with Long On Value and the 2017 Highlander with Green Mask.
Space Traveller, a Group 3 winner at Royal Ascot in 2019, won a listed stakes in June at York before joining the barn of Brendan Walsh. He wound up fourth in his North American debut in the Grade 1 Mister D. on Aug. 14 at Arlington.
Duke of Hazzard is winless in seven starts this year, all in England, where he kept some tough company in Group 2 and Group 3 stakes.
Town Cruise figures to set the pace. The late-bloomer dug in for second in the King Edward.
Avie’s Flatter won the Grade 2 Connaught Cup in July before finishing a flat fourth in the King Edward.
The mare Change of Control is taking on the boys off a chalky third in the Grade 2 Royal North.
Lasix is prohibited in the Woodbine Mile, which goes as the 10th race on a 12-race card that also includes the Grade 1 Canadian International and Grade 2 Canadian.