Penn Mile an opportune time for Dream On to deliver
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Mark Casse has always considered 3-year-old colt Dream On a turf superstar-in-waiting. He’ll have another chance to prove it when the rescheduled Penn Mile is finally run at Penn National on Friday evening. The race and its supporting stakes were originally carded for May 30 but have twice been delayed by rainy conditions in the Grantville, Pa., area.
“He trains like a really good horse. He runs like a decent horse,” Casse said of Dream On. “If you’d have asked me at the beginning of the year, I would’ve told you that he was probably one of the best turf 3-year-olds in the country.”
It might sound strange to describe a horse like Dream On as a work in progress. The colt finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last year, and he earned his first stakes victory last time out in the $125,000 Woodhaven at Aqueduct.
But when Casse was preparing for the Breeders’ Cup, he thought Dream On was his most promising horse at the event. When he won the Woodhaven last time out, the trainer expected him to win by more. Despite his success, he’s still falling short of expectations.
“I’ve never really seen his full potential, I don’t think,” Casse said. “I think he’s a better horse than we’ve ever seen. I’m waiting for the day that he really shows up.”
While Dream On succeeds and confounds in equal measure, his stablemate, Mi Bago, continues to deliver in his 3-year-old campaign. In his last start, the four-time stakes winner finished second in the $300,000 Pennine Ridge at Saratoga after the race was taken off the turf. He is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line, though he could be a front-running favorite if he can avoid a daunting rematch.
Zulu Kingdom, a ridgling trained by Chad Brown, earned his fifth victory in six career starts when he ran down Mi Bago in the Grade 1 American Turf in May on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He will be an overwhelming favorite if he enters the gate at Penn National this weekend, but jockey Flavien Prat will not make the trip to ride him, according to his agent.
Out On Bail, a colt trained by Mike Maker, will stretch out to a mile after seven straight starts at 5 1/2 furlongs to begin his career. In his 3-year-old debut in April, the colt finished second by a half-length in the $300,000 William Walker at Churchill Downs. It was his third straight runner-up finish in stakes competition.
Despite the tough breaks at the wire since September, Maker said that it will only take “a little luck” for his colt to break through at Penn National. The turf sprinter adding distance could be a threat to Mi Bago in the early going.
States’ Rights and Barbadian Runner will both scratch on Friday. Trainer Cherie DeVaux has decided to keep States’ Rights at Saratoga, while trainer Henry Walters said that Barbadian Runner would not start because of the race’s multiple postponements. The gelding finished second in the $200,000 Delaware Derby on June 14 and the trainer has a noted distaste for quick turnarounds.
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