Fly So Pretty leads Casse's crew into Kentucky Downs meet
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Eclipse Sportswire
Brushed with a foe at the start. Hustled. Checked repeatedly along the rail.
All of the above notations appear in the chart for Fly So Pretty with regards to her July 21 outing at Saratoga, none of which are things one wants a 2-year-old making just her second career start to encounter. It was a race where the only thing that went right for the daughter of Sky Mesa was her victorious end result – which why trainer Mark Casse feels there could be special days on the horizon for the chestnut filly.
“The difference between good horses and really good horses is the really good ones can overcome when things don’t go perfect,” Casse said. “She still has a lot to prove to show how good she is. But she’s shown already that she can overcome adversity, and I think that will be a big factor at Kentucky Downs.”
Having shrugged off some obstacles during a maiden victory that easily could have unraveled her young mind, Fly So Pretty will get to try her hand at stakes company on Saturday when she makes her expected start in the $500,000 Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies, one of four stakes on opening day of the Runhappy Kentucky Downs meet.
Maiden company at Saratoga is not for the faint of heart, and Fly So Pretty got her mettle suitably tested when she rallied from eighth in the 10-horse field to get up by a neck in the 5 ½-furlong turf test last month. The kick she displayed that day first showed itself during her career debut at Churchill Downs on June 20 when the Tracy Farmer homebred came from well back to finish third, and her style suggests Saturday’s one-mile distance over the European-style course should be the least of her issues.
“She was very impressive at Saratoga. She had just a terrible trip and was able to overcome that and I was impressed by her,” Casse said. “We always have liked her and obviously I wouldn’t have brought her to Saratoga if I didn’t like her.”
Casse has used Kentucky Downs to set his youngsters on an ambitious path before.
In 2015, he watched eventual multiple graded stakes winner Airoforce break his maiden at first asking over the Franklin course two starts before falling just a neck short of victory that year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. In addition to bringing Fly So Pretty in to test her class, Casse will also have Battleofwinterfell – who won her career debut at Ellis Park on July 7 – for the Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies and is set for his barn to have a sizable presence through the meet.
“We’ve done well there and most importantly horses have come out of there and done well,” Casse said of Kentucky Downs. “Obviously there are big purses and that’s nice, but it also is nice to set horses up for bigger and better things down the line.”
One of the other Casse-trained juveniles that earned the right to have some expectations placed upon him is Peace Achieved, who is expected to start in Saturday’s $500,000 Gainesway Farm Juvenile Stakes going eight furlongs. The son of Declaration of War finished third and seventh, respectively in his first two career outings – both at Churchill Downs – before airing his foes out during a 6 ¾ length win at Ellis Park on July 27.
Where Peace Achieved rated off the pace in his first pair of starts, his maiden triumph featured a successful change in tactics as the bay colt broke on top and stayed there through the one-mile race.
“We just kind of wanted him to be forwardly placed and he took off,” Casse said. “He is a beautiful horse. He does look a little bit like (Preakness Stakes winner) War of Will. He’s beautiful and he’s one we always felt would be better going long. I thought his last race was powerful.”
In addition to getting a gauge on some of his promising babies, Casse hopes Saturday’s card also results in stakes winner First Premio getting back on form. The 5-year-old son of Pure Prize is slated to start in the $750,000 Tourist Mile and is seeking to halt a three-race losing skid that includes a tenth-place finish in the Forbidden Apple Stakes (G3) at Saratoga on July 12.
First Premio’s recent struggles emerged ironically enough after he put in one of the best efforts of his career in taking down a salty allowance race at Keeneland on April 5 that included graded stakes winners Are You Kidding Me and Projected as well as multiple stakes winner Offering Plan.
“His last start was disappointing,” said Casse, who also has the well-bred Hanalei Moon entered for Saturday’s $250,000 One Dreamer going one mile and 70 yards. “I thought he would run a big race and he didn’t and I have no idea why. I was really, I was expecting a big effort out of him. He’s kind of a horse that needs some time between races sometimes so maybe that’s what got him.”
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