Queen's Plate Watch: Federal Law on the improve ahead of Plate Trial
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Following a gutsy win in last Sunday’s Queenston Stakes at Woodbine, trainer Mark Casse feels he has Federal Law back on track and is looking toward the $1 million Queen’s Plate on June 29.
“We feel we’re on track for the Queen’s Plate with him,” he said. “His race the other day was extremely good, given he had a rough trip and it looked like he wasn’t going to get the job done. For him to overcome that I thought was pretty impressive.”
Federal Law is one of two Casse-trained horses in the latest Daily Racing Form Queen’s Plate Watch top 10 list, as Casse looks to win his second consecutive Queen’s Plate and his third overall, following wins by Lexie Lou in 2014 and Wonder Gadot in 2018. The other Casse trainee in the top 10 is Skywire, the winner of the Wando Stakes who was scheduled to run back in Saturday’s Grade 3, $125,000 Marine Stakes at Woodbine.
Bred in Ontario by the Jim Dandy Stable, Federal Law was sold to Hunter Valley Farm for $220,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2017. The son of Scat Daddy then failed to meet his reserve at the Goffs U.K. Doncaster 2-year-old breeze-up sale in April 2018 and began his career in England for owner Qatar Racing Ltd. and trainer Archie Watson on a Tapeta surface at Newcastle last June. His first win came on turf at Salisbury in his second start, and three starts later, he made his way to North America for the Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine.
Federal Law got off to a slow start in the Summer and never made an impact, finishing 11th in the 12-horse field. With his Queen’s Plate eligibility, Federal Law remained in North America, and Casse was given the call to train him.
“After he ran in the Summer, they sent him to the farm in Kentucky and gelded him,” Casse said. “Then they contacted me and asked if I’d like to train him.”
Federal Law won his first start for his new trainer at Woodbine in an allowance event over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta on Nov. 4 and then finished second to Canadian champion 2-year-old male Avie’s Flatter in the Coronation Futurity two weeks later to close his own 2-year-old campaign.
“Avie’s Flatter didn’t beat him too easy,” Casse said. Federal Law “gave him a real run for his money.”
From there, Federal Law made his way to Florida for a winter break. He resumed training in January at Casse’s training center in Ocala, Fla., and returned to the races on the Polytrack at Turfway Park in the Rushaway Stakes on March 9. Federal Law broke cleanly in the Rushaway but raced in tight quarters heading into the first turn before fading to last in the nine-horse field.
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“He really disappointed me early on in the year because I thought he had grown up and gotten so much stronger over the wintertime,” Casse said. “I had been expecting big things out of him, so the race at Turfway was definitely disappointing.”
Looking to regroup, Federal Law returned to Woodbine and was entered in the Wando Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta on April 28. He was on the lead early and faded to third but showed improvement. Still, his effort left Casse looking for more.
“I thought his race back in the Wando was good, but I was even expecting a little bit more out of him at that point in time,” he said.
Following the Wando, Casse cut Federal Law back in distance for the Queenston, a seven-furlong sprint on Tapeta. Casse said the connections wanted a race between the Wando and the Plate Trial Stakes but also wanted to stay away from Skywire, leaving the Queenston as the only option.
“I talked about it with the racing manager, and I was trying to find him a spot,” he said. “I didn’t want to wait for the Plate Trial, and right now, we have Skywire running in the Marine, and they didn’t want to run against him. It just made sense.”
Casse said Federal Law will start in the $125,000 Plate Trial on June 9, and a good performance would set him up nicely for the Queen’s Plate.
