Wonder Wheel, Julia Shining Square Off in Suncoast

Wonder Wheel , the champion 2-year-old filly of 2022, is set to make her 2023 debut in in the $150,000 Suncoast Stakes Feb. 11 against eight other females, including Triple Crown nominee Julia Shining , at Tampa Bay Downs.

The Suncoast Stakes, a mile-and-40-yard contest for 3-year-old fillies on the main dirt track, is part of Saturday's 11-race Festival Preview Day card, headlined by the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles dirt.

Both the Suncoast and the Sam F. Davis are part of a points system leading to Churchill Downs in Louisville the first weekend of May, with the Suncoast awarding points to the first five finishers toward qualifying for the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and the Sam F. Davis awarding points to the top five toward qualifying for the May 6 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Points for both races will be awarded on a 20-8-6-4-2 scale.

Mark Casse, the trainer of Wonder Wheel, is eager to kick off Wonder Wheel's sophomore campaign in the Suncoast.

"She is ready. All systems are go," Casse said of his Into Mischief   filly, who is unraced since winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) last fall at Keeneland.

As he has in all five of her races, jockey Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard. Wonder Wheel won four of those 2-year-old starts, capped by victories at Keeneland in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She won the latter race with a dramatic, sustained rally from 11th place early, drawing away under Gaffalione to a three-length victory.

Career earnings for the D. J. Stable-owned star are $1,550,725.

Casse, who has also entered Live Oak Plantation's filly Ticker Tape Home  in the Suncoast, has been excited by Wonder Wheel's potential since she arrived at his Casse Training Center in Ocala last March.

"We got her in the fall (of 2021) and broke her, and she acted like she was better than average early last year. But we really started singing her praises at Saratoga," he said.

Wonder Wheel finished second there on Sept. 4 in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) to Leave No Trace , who was second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. But it was the way Wonder Wheel went about her lessons that most impressed her conditioner.

"Anything she does, she does it effortlessly," Casse said. "She just amazes me how she trains. Most things other horses have to work hard to accomplish, she will do it easily. That is usually the first indication (of an outstanding racehorse).

"Tyler has loved her from the start," Casse said. "Let's see where she goes from here, but she probably is the best 2-year-old I have ever trained."

Casse does not expect an easy time of things—not with Demoiselle Stakes (G2) winner Julia Shining in the lineup for eight-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Stonestreet Stable. Also entered is trainer Arnaud Delacour's locally-based Opus Forty Two , winner of the Jan. 14 Gasparilla Stakes.

Entries: Suncoast S.

Tampa Bay Downs, Saturday, February 11, 2023, Race 9

• STK
• 1m 40y
• Dirt
• $150,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:48 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Wonder Wheel (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	124	Mark E. Casse	-
2	Opus Forty Two (KY)	Daniel Centeno	120	Arnaud Delacour	-
3	Charlie's Wish (FL)	Emisael Jaramillo	120	David Fawkes	-
4	Champagne Calling (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	120	Ian R. Wilkes	-
5	Dreaming of Snow (FL)	Samy Camacho	120	Gerald S. Bennett	-
6	Guns n' Graces (KY)	Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr.	120	Chad C. Brown	-
7	Fast Tracked (MD)	Angel Suarez	120	Arnaud Delacour	-
8	Ticker Tape Home (ON)	Antonio A. Gallardo	120	Mark E. Casse	-
9	Julia Shining (KY)	Luis Saez	124	Todd A. Pletcher	-