TRAINER: CLASSIC EMPIRE IS ‘ ON HIS GAME’
The days here have been LOUISVILLE long and tiring, allowing trainer Mark Casse to fall asleep fast and rest well. But the weight of having the Kentucky Derby favorite in his barn began to settle in Saturday night when he was watching another one of his horses run at Churchill Downs and his wife asked why he seemed to be in a daze.
“I think it may be starting to hit me a little bit,” Casse said Sunday. “You start having everything go through your mind. Now, nothing can go wrong.”
Plenty has gone wrong for Casse and Classic Empire since he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November to wrap up the Eclipse Award as top juvenile male. When he returned to the track in February, he finished a dull third in the Holy Bull Stakes, a performance that made more sense two days later when a painful abscess surfaced in his right front hoof.
Getting a horse fit enough to win the Kentucky Derby is a delicate, monthslong process. Horses can overcome a setback here or there, but too many of them are impossible to overcome.
Not only did the abscess alter Casse’s plans, but the situation became even more discouraging when headstrong Classic Empire twice refused to train after the foot healed.
In March, they moved him to Ocala simply to give him a change of scenery — not the kind of audible any trainer wants to call two months before the Derby.
“We were fine with it because I always felt like we had time to correct it,” Casse said. “It’s not simple. A lot of people think they’re automobiles or machines. It’s not that way. We got to a point where every day was crucial. I never really felt great until we got to Arkansas and ran.”
In the last 40 years, only five 2- year old champions have translated their brilliance to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle at 3. Some of them have been in-
jured, some weren’t capable of running a mile and a quarter and others were simply caught by their peers who might have been slower to develop.
Casse’s last shot to get Classic Empire to Churchill Downs was the Arkansas Derby on April 15. It was a big moment not only to justify keeping the horse on track for Kentucky, but also to earn enough points to qualify for the field. ( Only the top 20 in points earned through prep races are guaranteed spots in the starting gate.)
Classic Empire didn’t have the cleanest trip at Oaklawn Park, finding traffic on the backstretch that halted his momentum and forced jockey Julien Leparoux to swing wide on the far turn. But in the final eighth of a mile, Classic Empire passed three horses to win by a halflength and re- establish himself as the favorite to win the roses.
“My thought was, ‘ If he didn’t run well enough, he didn’t deserve to be in the Kentucky Derby,’ ” Casse said. “I was OK with that. But I was a little worried because he got in some trouble and as they’re coming down the lane, I’m thinking, ‘ If he doesn’t get in the Kentucky Derby because of a bad trip, that would be disheartening.’ We were lucky it went well.”
Though he’s American, Casse bases his operation at Woodbine in Toronto and has been Canada’s top trainer for more than a decade. More and more over the last few years, he has found toplevel horses in his barn such as Classic Empire and Tepin, a two- time champion female turf horse. Casse comes to Churchill Downs with a second legitimate contender in State of Honor, who has won once in 10 starts but finished second in the Tampa Bay Derby and Florida Derby.
Now, after a long spring of setbacks and comebacks, Casse is literally knocking on every piece of wood he comes across from now until Saturday.
“I wish we could run today,” Casse said. “He’s happy, he’s on his game and he likes it here.” Girvin drama: There has been plenty of mystery in recent days surrounding lightly raced Girvin, who won the two major Derby preps in Louisiana.
After Girvin was moved from Churchill Downs about an hour away to Keeneland and a scheduled workout last week was postponed, speculation began to bubble about whether the horse might have an ailment that could cause him to miss the Kentucky Derby. Trainer Joe Sharp revealed that Girvin had developed a quarter crack in his right front hoof that could inhibit his performance if it was causing soreness.
After Girvin breezed 5 furlongs in a quick 593⁄ seconds Sunday, it appears 5 all systems are go.
Still, the Derby is hard enough to win with a horse in perfect physical condition, never mind one that has had a setback this close to the race.