Victory to Victory using Natalma as Breeders' Cup springboard

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Victory to Victory drew away from her rivals to win her maiden in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes here Sept. 18. Trainer Mark Casse hopes she can follow in stablemate Catch a Glimpse’s footsteps when she makes her next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 4.

Catch a Glimpse, owned by Gary Barber and partners, gave Casse his first Breeders’ Cup victory when she won the Juvenile Fillies Turf last October at Keeneland. Like Catch a Glimpse, Victory to Victory debuted at Saratoga before winning the Natalma in her third start. Victory to Victory, owned by Charlotte Weber, also ran in the prep for the Natalma at Woodbine on Aug. 27, finishing second to Tapa Tapa Tapa.

Casse said he thought Victory to Victory’s run in the Natalma prep set her up nicely for her win in the Natalma.

“We thought a lot of Victory to Victory,” he said. “My initial thoughts were for her to break her maiden at Saratoga and then bring her and run her in the Natalma. She got in all kinds of trouble in her maiden race at Saratoga, so afterwards I talked to Mrs. Weber, and I said, ‘Let’s get this filly over and run her in the Natalma prep, and it’ll set her up for the Natalma.’ I believe that when you can do it, you should always get a race over Woodbine’s turf course.”

Casse said he thinks the best is yet to come for Victory to Victory, who will now be trained up to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“This is a filly that still to this day is not as hard as she can be, and what I mean by that is physically,” he said. “She’s still a little on the soft side. I think the racing actually helps her. I don’t think you saw the best Victory to Victory the other day. I think she’s better than what you saw. She’s moving forward, and I think she’ll run very well in the Breeders’ Cup.”

Conquest Farenheit to skip Breeders’ Cup

Conquest Farenheit matched a strong debut effort with a runner-up finish behind Good Samaritan in the Grade 2 Summer Stakes here on Sept. 18, but Casse said Conquest Farenheit will not run in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

Conquest Farenheit is not eligible for the Breeders’ Cup and would have to be supplemented at a cost of $100,000. Casse said that after discussions with owners Ernie Semersky and Dory Newell of Conquest Stables, Conquest Farenheit would not be supplemented.

Even though Conquest Farenheit didn’t win the Summer, Casse said he was pleased with the colt’s performance after he matched the 91 Beyer Speed Figure he earned in his career debut Aug. 26.

“To me, his second race was more impressive than his first,” he said. “We’ve all seen horses break their maidens and look like monsters and then come back and not be able to repeat that. He came back and repeated it.”

Conquest Farenheit will be sold as part of the Conquest Stables dispersal at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, but Casse said it was possible he could make another start before then, although he did not have a target race in mind.

Neshama gets rest of year off

Woodbine Oaks winner Neshama, fourth in the La Lorgnette Stakes on Sept. 3, will get the rest of the season off, trainer Catherine Day Phillips said.

“We’ve stopped on her,” she said. “She’s been sent to the farm. She’s going to have the rest of the year off. We’ll bring her back next year for racing.”

Day Phillips said Neshama’s performance in the La Lorgnette signaled that the filly may have been pushed too far after a busy campaign.

“There were limited 3-year-old races left, and we took a shot at that one, and maybe we just ran one too many times,” she said. “We took a chance, and it didn’t work out, and now we’ll look after her and do the right thing for her and give her some time to grow up and have a little break after a hard year.”

Neshama gave Day Phillips and owners Carnegie Hill Stable and Kingfield Racing Stable their first Woodbine Oaks win. Neshama finished the season with two wins from six starts and earnings of $372,500.

“She gave us more than we ever dreamed for,” Day Phillips said. “It’s time to look after her.”

Due to an editing error a previous version of this story incorrectly stated the owner of Catch a Glimpse. She is owned by a partnership led by Gary Barber, not Charlotte Weber. Weber owns Victory to Victory.