Loss of Danzig Moon tough to swallow

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Highs and lows are to be expected in racing, but what Norman Casse went through in less than 24 hours last weekend was excessive.

Casse suffered a staggering blow with the loss of Danzig Moon, who was euthanized Sunday at Woodbine after breaking down in the Plate Trial. As the son and assistant of trainer Mark Casse, Norman Casse had spent the most time around the colt this winter and spring in Florida and Kentucky.

“We’ve had horses get hurt and break down,” Casse said Tuesday at Churchill Downs, “but not one like this.”

The breakdown came the afternoon after Casse was front and center here Saturday night with Noble Bird, who won of the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap. Danzig Moon was owned by John Oxley, who also owns Noble Bird. Danzig Moon had finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Preakness.

Danzig Moon “was one of the soundest horses in the barn,” said Casse. “People have been unbelievably good about it. My Twitter and Facebook page are filled with people expressing their sympathy. They really loved him and knew him, I guess because he ran in the Derby and Preakness.”

While Casse watched the Plate Trial on television at his mother’s house in nearby Shepherdsville, he oversaw the colt throughout his journey up to that race – from his maiden romp on the Feb. 7 Donn Handicap card at Gulfstream, to his fourth-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby, to his runner-up finish in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, and on through the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

“He left a couple weeks ago for Woodbine,” said Casse. “We’re all pretty sad around here.”

Meanwhile, Noble Bird, a neck winner over the favored Lea in the Foster, will run next in the Aug. 8 Whitney at Saratoga, said Casse. Lea, who left here Monday on a van bound for Saratoga, also goes next in the Grade 1 Whitney, according to Kenny McCarthy, assistant to trainer Bill Mott.