Casse\u2019s last Plate victory came in \u201923 with Paramount Prince, which finished ahead of Oaks champion Elysian Field, another Casse-conditioned horse.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s already been an eventful week for Casse, who\u2019s been named Canada\u2019s top trainer an unprecedented 16 times. He earned his 4,000th career victory Thursday at Colonial Downs Racetrack in Virginia.<\/p>\n
The Oaks is the opening event of the Canadian Triple Tiara for Canadian-foaled three-year-old fillies. The 1 1\/8-mile race on Woodbine\u2019s synthetic track is also a key prep for the 1 1\/4-mile Plate, which is also run on synthetic.<\/p>\n
Also on Sunday\u2019s card is the $150,000 Plate Trial, a 1 1\/8-mile race for three-year-olds that goes on the same surface. Having the two races on the same day provides insight as to how the two race winners compare heading into the King\u2019s Plate.<\/p>\n
Casse\u2019s five horses in the Oaks: Ella It Is, No Time, Shifty, War Signal, and Winterberry.<\/p>\n
\u201cShifty is probably the most talented (of the group),\u201d Casse said. \u201cShe has her quirks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she can settle and get into a good rhythm, she will be tough. She\u2019s very talented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shifty has finished in the money four times over seven career starts (two wins, twice third) and amassed $152,037 in earnings. She won her three-year-old debut May 11 before finishing third in the seven-furlong Fury Stakes on June 7.<\/p>\n
No Time has two wins and a third-place finish from seven starts. She heads into the Oaks off a fourth-place effort in the Grade 3 $150,000 Selene Stakes at Woodbine on June 28.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think No Time is a sleeper,\u201d said Casse. \u201cI think she has a very good pedigree \u2014 both her and Shifty have very nice pedigrees.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is not easy to ride. She is another one that if she is happy, she is going to be tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ella It Is has two wins and two second-place finishes over eight starts. She\u2019ll make a fifth career stakes appearance Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has shown she can run well,\u201d said Casse. \u201cShe has to step up her game now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will be a test for her. She is really only one of my fillies in this race who can settle.\u201d<\/p>\n
War Signal will make her seventh start Sunday, having amassed two wins and a third-place finish. She was sixth versus the boys in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes on June 28, just two lengths behind winner Mansetti.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe ran well in the Marine \u2026 I thought she hung in there,\u201d Casse said. \u201cShe is another one who likes to be up close to the lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winterberry has three wins from six starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is coming into the Oaks better than ever,\u201d Casse said. \u201cI\u2019m still not 100 per cent sure she can get the mile and an eighth, but she is very talented.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery rider is going to do their own thing. I\u2019m not giving any instructions. I think the break is going to be very important, and how each rider can get their horse to settle going into the first turn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Casse will also have a horse in the Plate Trial. The 10-horse field includes Regal Guest, who\u2019ll be ridden by Patrick Husbands. Husbands has the distinction of having ridden the last Canadian Triple Crown winner, that being Wando in 2003.<\/p>\n
Also in running in the race will be Scorching, who was second to Mansetti in the Marine. The dark bay colt was making his three-year-old debut following a layoff since Oct. 6.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was surprised by the performance,\u201d said trainer John Charalambous. \u201cHe ran according to the way we wanted him to race \u2014 not the result, but how he sat off the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other starters included Notorious Gangster (Queenston Stakes winner and last year\u2019s Coronation Futurity Stakes victor); Dewolf (\u201924 Bull Page Stakes winner), Unbridled Weather (\u201924 Frost King Stakes winner) and Regal Guest (second in \u201925 Queenston Stakes).<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Casse\u2019s last Plate victory came in \u201923 with Paramount Prince, which finished ahead of Oaks champion Elysian Field,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-275840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114882273793465241","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}