Dancing Duchess may be the right Casse in Zadracarta

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – “The other Casse” has been a viable angle at Woodbine for nearly 20 years, with the latest example being Win for the Money’s 13-1 score over stablemate Filo Di Arianna in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Woodbine Mile.

Casse sends out two contenders in Saturday’s $100,000 Zadracarta Stakes – the 3-year-olds Dancing Duchess and Olivia Rose. It’s unclear which one will be favored in the five-furlong dash for Ontario-bred fillies and mares, but one of them might offer better value than the other.

Dancing Duchess’s turf sprint form is excellent. She suffered a neck loss against the boys in last summer’s Soaring Free Stakes. Last fall, she rallied outside to take the five-furlong Algonquin Stakes over another mixed bag of colts and fillies.

Dancing Duchess won her third start this year in the 6 1/2-furlong Alywow Stakes on the main turf while receiving an 81 Beyer Speed Figure. Without Lasix, she wasn’t far back in fifth in the Coronation Cup on July 24 at Saratoga.

Casse tried Dancing Duchess over 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta most recently in the Bison City Stakes, in which she did okay to finish a distant third behind protagonists Stormcast and Hurricane Clair.

Casse has decent numbers with turnbacks, and the Tracy Farmer-owned Dancing Duchess should be rolling late under Sahin Civaci.

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The speedy Olivia Rose complements her stablemate’s style. She took the six-furlong Fury Stakes on the Tapeta in her second run of the season with a big 86 Beyer. Two starts ago, she assumed a stalking position in the five-furlong Georgian Bay Stakes on the inner turf and was outfinished for the win by Little Teddy.

Olivia Rose then turned the tables on Little Teddy in another Ontario-sired stakes, the six-furlong Thunder Bay on the main course. She darted out to a clear lead and never looked back to prevail with another 86 Beyer. Rafael Hernandez retains the mount on her for owner-breeder Gabe Grossberg.

Five others were entered, including the supplemented Owen’s Tour Guide, who has done her best running up front this year.

Owen’s Tour Guide was scratched from a conditioned allowance/optional claimer on Friday. She earned Beyers in the low 90s in the spring when landing an allowance/optional claimer and when second in the Grade 3 Hendrie. She sagged in the stretch after failing to make the lead two back in the Sweet Briar Too Stakes and was softened up in a speed duel last out in the Grade 3 Seaway.

Cara Cara could vie for the early honors, although she doesn’t need the lead. She has been a model of consistency this year while placing in 5 of 6 starts, which included a victory in a five-furlong allowance on the inner course.

Indian Music is another with tactical speed. She has stuck to the Tapeta since her second run of the season, a fourth behind Cara Cara, and was competitive in two conditioned allowance/optional claimers in August.

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