NEWS
Casse earns 1,000th career win on Saturday at Woodbine
Posted: Sunday, August 10, 2008 12:19 AM
Two-time Sovereign Award-winning trainer Mark Casse recorded his 1,000th career win on Saturday at Woodbine.
Laragh powered to a front-running 1 3/4-length win under Patrick Husbands in the first race, a seven-furlong maiden special weight race for two-year-old fillies.
"It was nice to do it with Patrick [Husbands]. He's been a big part of it," Casse said. "It's exciting. It's nice to have everybody come up and congratulate you. If you told me when I started I was going to win 1,000 races, I would be happy and excited about it."
Casse, 47, trains 2007 Canadian Horse of the Year Sealy Hill, whose regular rider is Husbands.
Sealy Hill swept the ’07 Canadian Triple Crown for fillies and also was named champion turf female and champion three-year-old filly after posting four wins and three seconds in eight starts. In addition to winning the Labatt Woodbine Oaks, Wonder Where Stakes, and Bison City Stakes at Woodbine for Casse, Sealy Hill also took the 2007 Bourbonette Oaks Stakes (G3) at Turfway Park.
A native of Indianapolis, Casse said his son, assistant trainer Norman Casse Jr., alerted him about the approaching milestone.
"It's given me time to reflect upon all the places I've been and all the different things that have happened during my career," said Casse, who won the Sovereign Award winner as Canada's outstanding trainer for the second consecutive year in 2007.
Casse’s most lucrative career win came last year when Turf War finished in a dead heat for first in the Boyd Gaming’s Delta Jackpot Stakes (G3). Casse also won the Breeders’ Stakes last year with Marchfield.
