Galina Point heads loaded Casse barn in Oaks
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber combined to win the Woodbine Oaks last year with Lexie Lou and will look to repeat in Sunday’s $500,000 Oaks, Woodbine’s premier race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Casse has entered four fillies in the race – the Lady Angela Stakes winner Galina Point and Shez a Masterpiece for Barber, Season Ticket for Woodford Racing, and Tancook for East West Stables.
Galina Point is returning to action just two weeks after winning the Lady Angela over seven furlongs with an off-the-pace rally May 31. Jockey Alan Garcia was aboard in the Lady Angela but in the Oaks will ride London Tower, a filly that beat Galina Point by 6 1/2 lengths in last season’s Ontario Lassie Stakes and by a half-length May 3 in the Fury Stakes. John Velazquez picks up the mount on Galina Point.
“Her last race was good,” Casse said. “Alan went to [London Tower], but we got a pretty good replacement. Obviously, you always worry about coming back in two weeks, but this will be her fourth race back, and I think she’s sitting on a really good race.”
Meanwhile, Shez a Masterpiece has yet to find her best form in two races this season. She started her 2015 campaign with a seventh-place finish in the Fury and subsequently finished second with a 59 Beyer Speed Figure in a first-level Ontario-sired allowance May 17.
“We haven’t been able to get her on track this year yet,” Casse said. “I really don’t know what to expect from her. She has been a project. She gets herself in so much trouble coming out of the gate. She’s her own worst enemy.”
Key contenders
Galina Point (Last 3 Beyers: 74-78-54)
* Galina Point is no stranger to a quick turnaround, having run back in two weeks twice before in her career, and she improved on her previous Beyer each time.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Galina Point. Trainer Mark Casse is 17-1-2-1 with a $1.12 ROI over the past five years with John Velazquez aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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London Tower (Last 3 Beyers: 79-79-72)
* London Tower rebounded from a slow start in the Fury with a strong rally down the stretch in her lone 3-year-old prep for this event and had two strong races around two turns as a 2-year old.
Leading Edge (Last 3 Beyers: 74-73-73)
* Expect Leading Edge to be forwardly placed with the addition of blinkers after she ran third May 24 in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes. She was outkicked late in the Selene and will need to hold off the closers in the late going of the Oaks.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Leading Edge. Trainer Roger Attfield is 30-0-3-4 over the past three years when adding blinkers. Click for more details. – Dan Illman
Brooklynsway (Last 3 Beyers: 68-70-70)
* Trainer John Ross said Brooklynsway was suffering from a mouth abscess in the Fury, a race in which she lost ground on the turn before rallying in the stretch to be fourth.
* She should appreciate the added distance, having defeated London Tower and Leading Edge in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes at 1 1/16 miles last year.
Season Ticket (Last 3 Beyers: 73-75-75)
* Season Ticket closed wide from off the pace in the Selene in her first start on Polytrack and should have no trouble with this distance, having run well in a 1 3/16-mile allowance on turf at Keeneland in April.