Lexie Lou leads group of Casse runners in Thanksgiving weekend stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Led by Lexie Lou, the Queen’s Plate winner in July, trainer Mark Casse will have a big team of runners for stakes in the final days of the Del Mar autumn meeting.

Lexie Lou, who won her California debut in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes over a mile on turf for 3-year-olds fillies Oct. 25 at Santa Anita, will start in the $300,000 Hollywood Derby next Saturday. The Hollywood Derby is run over 1 1/8 miles on turf, a distance that appeals to Casse.

“The farther for her, the better,” Casse said.

Lexie Lou, who is owned by Gary Barber, beat males in the Queen’s Plate Stakes at Woodbine, and has won four stakes this year. She breezed a half-mile in 47.80 seconds on the main track Saturday at Del Mar, a workout slightly quicker than what Casse expected.

Jockey Corey Nakatani was aboard Lexie Lou for the exercise. Casse said he and Nakatani were aiming for a 49-second workout.

“He was surprised she could go that fast that easily,” Casse said. “That’s what good horses do. We gave her a pretty good work last week. She doesn’t need a lot. She puts a lot into her gallops.”

Lexie Lou worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 Nov. 15.

The Grade 1 Hollywood Derby will draw national attention. California Chrome, the Kentucky Derby winner who was third by a neck Nov. 1 in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita, will make his turf debut in the Hollywood Derby.

The Del Mar autumn meeting concludes with a four-day racing week beginning on Thanksgiving and running through Nov. 30. There is at least one graded stakes per day through that four-day period.

The Thanksgiving program, which has an early first post time of 11 a.m., is led by the $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup over 1 1/2 miles. Casse will run Patrioticandproud, who was third in the Las Vegas Marathon over 1 3/4 miles on dirt Oct. 31 at Santa Anita.

Kaigun, 10th in the BC Mile on Nov. 1, will run in Friday’s $250,000 Seabiscuit Handicap over 1 1/16 miles on turf. The Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap previously was run at Hollywood Park as the Citation Handicap.

Casse may have as many as three runners in the $150,000 Jimmy Durante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies over a mile on turf – Conquest Artura, Conquest Harlanate, and Ol’ Fashion Gal. The Grade 3 Durante formerly was known as the Miesque Stakes when run at Hollywood Park.

The Nov. 30 final day of the meeting has two important stakes – the $300,000 Matriarch Stakes, a Grade 1 for fillies and mares over a mile on turf; and the $150,000 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes for 2-year-olds over a mile on turf. Conquest Typhoon, fourth in the BC Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 31, runs in the Generous for Casse.

The Matriarch contenders include Discreet Marq, Queen of the Sand, and Strathnaver.