Play the Music goes for third stakes win of meet in Hendrie

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse has a lot going on at Woodbine this summer.

Champion 2-year-old My Boy Prince is pointing to the July 20 Plate Trial Stakes. Marine Stakes first- and third-place finishers Essex Serpent and Midnight Mascot will likely train up to the Aug. 17 King’s Plate. And Canadian champions Paramount Prince and Filo Di Arianna both won graded stakes last Saturday.

Flying under the radar in the Casse barn is Woodbine’s leading female sprinter Play the Music, who goes for her third consecutive Grade 3 stakes score in Saturday’s $135,000 Hendrie over 6 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta.

A 4-year-old owned by Glassman Racing, Play the Music took the six-furlong Whimsical by 4 1/4 lengths with an 89 Beyer Speed Figure on the Tapeta on May 4. She doubled up June 1 in the 6 1/2-furlong Royal North on the turf, for which she got a career-best 91 Beyer.

“They were two excellent efforts,” Casse said. “It showed her versatility in being able to perform at a high level on two different surfaces.”

Casse said Play the Music had a tough trip when sixth in the Grade 3 Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland in April.

“She had the one hole and she got roughed up,” Casse recalled. “After that, we sent her to Woodbine and she’s been successful.”

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Casse said jockey Patrick Husbands believes Play the Music does have a surface preference.

“If you believe Patrick Husbands, he will tell you all-weather,” Casse said. “But I’m not sure if that is the case. She looks pretty darn good to me on either surface.”

Among the others in the 12-horse field are Gal in a Rush, Honey Pants, Owen’s Tour Guide, Marissa’s Lady, and Baby No Worries.

Gal in a Rush ships in from New York for trainer Christophe Clement off a wide fourth in the Grade 2 Intercontinental at Saratoga. She was beaten just a neck when second off a long layoff in the May 5 License Fee Stakes at Aqueduct.

Honey Pants finished third in the six-furlong License Fee in her last outing, which came on the heels of a narrow loss in the six-furlong Queen Stakes over Tapeta at Turfway Park. Jonathan Thomas trains the Keeneland-based mare.

The speedy Owen’s Tour Guide ran the race of her life here May 25 when landing a 6 1/2-furlong conditioned allowance/optional claimer by 5 3/4 lengths with a 90 Beyer for trainer Willy Armata.

Marissa’s Lady is based at Turfway, where she notched a Tapeta stakes in December for trainer Bill Morey. She started twice in allowance/optional-claiming company on turf during the spring in Kentucky, ending up third most recently at Churchill Downs.

Baby No Worries, based at Presque Isle Downs with trainer Tim Girten, dead-headed for third in the Whimsical and was promoted from sixth to fifth by disqualification after a wide trip in the Royal North.

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