World Approval will need his ‘A' race in Wise Dan Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A month after World Approval was scratched from the Grade 2 Dixie at Pimlico when the race was transferred from turf to dirt, trainer Mark Casse has opted for a home game for him in the Grade 2 Wise Dan at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Although four more weeks off from the Dixie is perhaps less than ideal for World Approval, who hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in the March 10 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, the conditions of the Wise Dan otherwise suit him. The Wise Dan is at 1 1/16 miles on turf, a trip over which World Approval has won four of six races, and he can simply come over to race from his regular stall at Churchill Downs, his base for training in the spring and early summer for the last four years.

Last year’s champion turf horse, World Approval also is reunited Saturday with John Velazquez, who has been aboard three times, all for victories, most notably in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in November at Del Mar.

“We’re as ready as ever,” Casse said. “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t see the real World Approval.”

He will need his “A” race – something he did not produce in the Kilroe – if he is to win the Wise Dan, given that among his seven rivals are millionaire Divisidero and Mr. Misunderstood, a winner of eight of 11 grass starts.

Divisidero sports a 3-for-3 record on the grass at Churchill Downs, having won the 2015 American Turf and then the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic in 2016 and 2017.

World Approval ran behind him in two of those races, his only starts over the Churchill Downs grass course, finishing third in the 2015 American Turf and second in the 2016 Woodford Reserve.

Divisidero also was scratched from last month’s Dixie due to the change in surface. He has since finished second in the Grade 2 Monmouth on May 26 in his first start of the year and his first race under the care of trainer Kelly Rubley. Divisidero had previously been trained by Buff Bradley.

“This is back quicker than I’d like, but he seems to have handled his rest well,” Rubley said.

Although not a Grade 1 winner like World Approval and Divisidero, Mr. Misunderstood showed the talent to compete in a major grass race when he finished a close sixth last out in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland on April 13.

Unsettled at the start, he broke a couple lengths behind the field and had to play catch-up from the back of the pack, while Heart to Heart led throughout. He lost by a mere 2 1/2 lengths, finishing less than a half-length from third.

He comes into the Wise Dan fresh following a two-month layoff, having bypassed the May 3 Opening Verse early in the Churchill meet.