Casse takes three shots at Schuylerville

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A field of nine juvenile fillies, eight of whom won their only start but none of whom have ever raced in New York, will converge on Saratoga for Thursday’s $175,000 Schuylerville Stakes. The traditional opening-day feature will be decided at six furlongs and is the first of three graded stakes for 2-year-old fillies here during the summer.

Trainer Mark Casse has three entered in the Grade 3 Schuylerville: Me and My Shadow and Adora, who each won her debut over the synthetic surface at Woodbine, and Janis Joplin, the only maiden in the lineup.

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Me and My Shadow owns the highest Beyer Speed Figure in the field, a 78 earned for her four-length victory going five furlongs at Woodbine on May 28.

“She trained well to her first race and won impressively,” Casse said. “I sent her to Belmont to get some work over the dirt and she’s probably trained best over that surface than any of the three we have in the race.”

Adora drew off to a similarly easy 4 3/4-length triumph as the 4-5 favorite going 4 1/2 furlongs at Woodbine on May 14.

“She trained adequately over dirt at Belmont, but I do have some concerns that she may be more turf and synthetic,” Casse said. “But she’s trained well enough to deserve a chance.”

Janis Joplin broke slowly before rallying to finish third in a restricted 5 1/2-furlong maiden race at Churchill Downs on June 29.

“She probably wasn’t really ready to run the first time, but we were coming up to the end of the meet at Churchill,” said Casse. “She got away slow, but if she didn’t lay in down the lane I think she wins. I entered her late, when it looked like this was going to be a small field. I think that might be the case with some of the others in here as well. But we’ve seen this race a million times where they fly the first part and walk home late, so that might be to her advantage.”

The horse to beat could be Just Cindy, who rallied from mid-pack to a 2 1/4-length triumph as a 6-5 favorite in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight dash at Churchill Downs four weeks earlier, receiving a strong 70 Beyer. She, too, could benefit from a torrid early pace as well as the presence of Irad Ortiz Jr. in the irons.

Summer Promise was equally impressive, leading throughout and drawing off to an easy five-length maiden win, also at Churchill. Her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, seeks what would be a record seventh Schuylerville victory.

Rounding out the field are potential pace candidates Sweet Harmony, who graduated at Monmouth Park; Vedareo, a winner at Parx Racing; Motown Mischief, who earned her diploma over the synthetic surface at Presque Isle Downs; and Musicmansandy, who won a maiden race at Delaware Park.