‘New Norm,’ Tomlinson oversees Flameaway's Derby prep

Ask trainer Mark Casse about his Churchill Downs-based assistant, and he’s likely to introduce him as “the new Norm” before mentioning the name Nicholas Tomlinson.

The elder Casse dealt with quote the void this past winter as his son, Norm, who oversaw champions Tepin and World Approval, among so many other barn fixtures, received his own trainer’s license and started out on his own.

Enter Tomlinson, who on Saturday morning showcased composure and wit while dealing with a questioning media gaggle following 2018 Kentucky Derby contender Flameaway’s first workout back under the Twin Spires.

“Norman, he was actually one of my mentors,” Tomlinson said. “I can’t say enough about him. He taught me a lot, and I think he’s actually a big reason for why I’m here now. Definitely big shoes to fill, and hopefully I can do half the job he did. We’ve got a great group of people, so hopefully we can.”

Tomlinson has worked for Casse for more than two years now, but it’s been longer than that since the trainer knew Norm was due to open his own training business. When Casse hired Tomlinson, he remembers telling his wife the Ontario native was the “perfect replacement.”

First, Tomlinson had to prove it.

“You can be a foreman, or assistant to the assistant, but when it comes to you having to make some calls, it’s a different deal,” Casse said.

So last summer, Tomlinson ran a string of about 15 horses in South Florida.

“He did extremely well,” Casse said, so Tomlinson earned a shot with the top horses over the winter stabled at the Palm Meadows Training Center.

“We had the best Gulfstream meet we’ve ever had,” Casse said. “That was under his supervision.”

And so it was on to Churchill Downs.

Flameaway, a son of Scat Daddy, enters the Kentucky Derby off a runner-up finish to 2-year-old champ Good Magic in Keeneland’s Blue Grass Stakes. Earlier this year, the colt won a stakes race on turf, then won the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes in his switch back to dirt.

Casse said nobody knows Flameaway better than Tomlinson, making the pair a match with the Derby less than two weeks away.

“I think Mark was quoted somewhere as saying, ‘We might be going into the Derby with a 20-1 shot, but he’s going to be one of the best 20-1 shots in there,’” Tomlinson said, “and it’s the truth. When he goes over there on Derby Day, he’s going to give it everything he’s got.”

This is Tomlinson’s second stint in Louisville, but his first around Derby time. So the assistant trainer’s certainly giving it his all, too.

“A lot of Flameaway’s success comes through Nick,” Casse said. “Nick’s had him all along. I have no worries about that.”