Ride a Comet's victory in the Tropical Turf makes Casse proud

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Mark Casse calls him “one of our greatest accomplishments in the past 40 years,” a strong compliment indeed from the Hall of Fame trainer when talking about Ride a Comet, who has returned from a 26-month layoff to win three straight starts, including Saturday’s Grade 3 Tropical Turf here.

Ride a Comet, 6, has overcome not one but two tendon injuries suffered after his victory in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby during the summer of his 3-year-old campaign. He came back last fall after being sidelined for more than two years, and won a pair of races over the synthetic surface at Woodbine before returning to the turf Saturday. Ride a Comet rallied to a half-length victory over the Grade 1-placed Casa Creed in the Tropical Turf and received a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He shipped to New York for a stakes after the Del Mar Derby and suffered a bowed tendon while just galloping,” Casse recalled. “We gave him a year off, he was doing really well, then hurt the same tendon again but in a different spot. So we gave him another year off. It was truly a team effort getting him back to the races again. I find it easier to bring horses back off long layoffs on the Tapeta, so I sent him to Woodbine and his two races up there were most impressive, although my plan, obviously, was always to get him back on the grass. My hopes and dreams with him are to win a Grade 1, and to do that we have to do it on turf, and Saturday’s race was just another step in that direction.”

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The Tropical Turf performance was enough to earn Ride a Comet an invitation to the Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus Turf here Jan. 23. If he were to run in the Pegasus Turf, Ride a Comet would be stretching out from the mile of the Tropical Turf to 1 3/16 miles. But Casse said he probably won’t bring Ride a Comet back on short rest, and instead will run him next in the Kilroe Mile on March 6 at Santa Anita.

“You know me, normally I’m not averse to bringing a horse back in two weeks,” Casse said. “The added distance is not an issue, and I’m not afraid to run him against anybody. But given his history, I just don’t think it would be the best thing to do, so I’d say it’s highly unlikely he’ll run in the Pegasus. It all goes well, we’ll likely send him to the Kilroe Mile next.”

While Ride a Comet may not run here again this winter, Casse is planning to launch Got Stormy’s 2021 campaign in the Grade 3 Honey Fox on Feb. 27. Got Stormy has been freshening on Casse’s farm in Ocala, Fla., since finishing fifth against the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, closing out a year during which she won a pair of Grade 3 grass sprints and also was second in a pair of Grade 1 races, the Kilroe Mile and Fourstardave.

Last year, Got Stormy opened her season with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Endeavour at Tampa.

“She’ll show up at Palm Meadows shortly to start working on the turf,” Casse said. “One of the reasons she didn’t run better the first time out last year at Tampa was because I didn’t get to work her over the grass for the race. She loves working on turf, and since she’ll be at Palm Meadows, the Honey Fox makes the most sense for her first start back.”

Casse also will be in action in a pair of the Sunshine Stakes here Saturday, sending out Proven Strategies as one of the favorites in the Turf and Souper Stonehenge, second to Ride a Comet in the Grade 2 Kennedy Road at Woodbine, in the Sprint.