Ric Flair to the younger Casse: 'You're the man' with two wins
Just a few months after going out as a solo trainer, Norm Casse joked last week that “I don’t have to do anything the rest of my career.”
That’s because he already received the ultimate shoutout from professional wrestling legend Ric Flair.
Casse, the former top assistant to his father, Mark Casse, saw it as the latest kind gesture in a series of them as he started running his own barn at Churchill Downs.
“I don’t know how he arranged it,” Casse said, suspecting Churchill clocker John Nichols was behind the video, “but he got it done. He knows I’m a huge wrestling fan and a big Ric Flair fan. It’s nice Churchill even tweeted it. It gets people talking.”
And, yes, we were able to confirm the Flair video was indeed Nichols’ work.
It’s just proving Flair right after he touted Casse, saying, “You’re on your way to being a great trainer. Hell — you’re a great trainer right now. Two wins. And I understand you live by the motto, ‘To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.’
“Right now, Norm Casse, you’re the man. Congratulations.”
In all, Casse said he has 28 horses in his care, 14 of racing age and 14 more 2-year-olds in training preparing for their first starts.
“That’s where the promise and the hope comes in,” he said. “I think we have some talented 2-year-olds, but that all remains to be seen.”
Barn 43, where Casse operates now, is just steps from his father’s operation on the Churchill backside. Casse’s horses train in distinctive red and black colors, with his “NC” logo adorning the shedrow.
Casse laughed when asked if Dad’s asked him to come back to work. No, not yet at least.
Norm oversaw the likes of champions Tepin and World Approval at his last job, among many other top charges. That life, as an assistant, was different than the task at hand now.
“Dad is my biggest supporter and also the one who’s taught me the most, not just about horses, but business and life in general,” he said. “He’s always warned me how financially straining it is and how on top of it you need to be.
“I listened, but I don’t think I really listened, and now I get to see how it can be. As a trainer, you put up a lot of money up front, and you have to win.”
He’s liking that pressure, saying he’s waking up earlier, waking up easier and “excited coming in” to work. Casse’s booked his next starter, 2-year-old Tales of Chaucer, for Sunday’s card at Belmont Park.
“I had said it had become stale kind of going through the motions being an assistant,” he said. “I feel like I had maxed out that capacity. What I was looking for was excitement and a renewed enthusiasm in what we’re doing.
“..I’ve worked very hard, but I’ve been given a lot of good breaks, too. I’m grateful for that, for the support system I have and Churchill Downs — what they’ve done for me. I hope to reward everyone’s confidence.”