Wonder Wheel could begin season in Suncoast Stakes

With 2022 in the books and a divisional Eclipse Award all but certain for Wonder Wheel, trainer Mark Casse is eyeing the Suncoast on Feb. 11 at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla., as a potential comeback spot for the standout filly.

“Right now, it’s part of the plan,” Casse said. “I want to see how she trains and I don’t want to rush her, but her first work back was really good.”

Wonder Wheel breezed three furlongs in 35.80 seconds last week at Casse’s training center in Ocala in her first timed workout since she won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 4 at Keeneland. The daughter of Into Mischief will be on a steady work pattern as the winter unfolds, said Casse, and if she’s not quite ready for the Suncoast, she’ll make her 3-year-old debut instead in the March 4 Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park.

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The mile and 40-yard Suncoast, part of the Sam F. Davis undercard, is a 40-point qualifying race (20-8-6-4-2) toward the Kentucky Oaks on May 5. The Davona Dale is a one-turn mile and a 100-point qualifier (50 to the winner). Wonder Wheel tops the current standings with 40 points.

Wonder Wheel, owned by the D. J. Stable of Leonard Green and family, was a three-length winner of the Juvenile Fillies to cap a 4-for-5 season that surely will result in her being honored as the 2-year-old filly champion when Eclipse Awards are handed out Jan. 26 at The Breakers in Palm Beach.

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