Classic Empire gets change of scenery, works five furlongs

Eclipse Award winner Classic Empire, who on Sunday refused to work at Palm Meadows in south Florida for the second time in less than three weeks, on Wednesday worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Winding Oaks Farm in Ocala, Fla., where he had been sent on Sunday.

Classic Empire worked in company and put away his workmate, according to Norman Casse, the son and assistant to trainer Mark Casse, who is vacationing this week.

“I’m very encouraged by the events this morning,” Norman Casse said by telephone from Ocala. “Obviously, he refused to work on Sunday morning, but we had come up with a game plan that if he did that, we would go to Ocala. You’ve got to keep him thinking. He had two good days of galloping here on Monday and Tuesday and then worked today.

“Our thought was that maybe he wasn’t happy at Palm Meadows. We wanted to give him a shot somewhere else. We’ll keep him here in Ocala, work again next week, then decide what to do. We want to get him on a regular work pattern.”

The work was only the second for Classic Empire since he finished third in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream on Feb. 4, his lone start since a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory last Nov. 5 at Santa Anita that made him a unanimous choice as champion 2-year-old male. He came out of the Holy Bull with an abscess in his right front foot and missed the Fountain of Youth earlier this month.

On March 3, Classic Empire refused when asked to work at Palm Meadows and showed signs of discomfort in his back when he returned to his stall. He did get in a work March 12 at Palm Meadows, a half-mile in 48.95 seconds, but then refused anew for a scheduled work on Sunday.

Casse said “everything is on the table” regarding a final prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 6. Although the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes on April 8 at Keeneland has been the intended start, Casse said when asked specifically about the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on April 15 that it too was under consideration.

There are numerous farms and training centers in Ocala. Winding Oaks has a one-mile dirt track and is where Classic Empire received some of his early training last year at age 2, as the Casses keep horses there.