Casa Creed Chases Back-to-Back Fourstardave Victories

Running four times in a year is no longer an unheard of set of circumstances for a top-level Thoroughbred.

Just last year, Flightline   only ran three times and was voted Horse of the Year.

So, in an era when horses are running less often, something special can be found in a durable and high-class horse such as Casa Creed .

On Aug. 12 at Saratoga Race Course, the 7-year-old Casa Creed will be running in the $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) for the fourth straight year, a fitting accomplishment for a horse who has emulated the heroics and longevity of the stakes' namesake.

"Just to run in the Fourstardave four straight times is an amazing accomplishment. What he's done is unheard of, except for Fourstardave," said Lee Einsidler, who owns the son of Jimmy Creed   along with sports talk radio icon Mike Francesca. "They call him 'The Mayor of Saratoga.' He's developed quite a fan club."

While Casa Creed will not match the "Sultan of Saratoga" with wins in eight straight years at the Spa, Casa Creed chalked up his fourth year with a Saratoga victory earlier in the meet when he won the July 15 Kelso Stakes (G3T).

Included in those wins at New York's oasis for racing was victory in last year's Fourstardave, after finishing third in the two previous editions. In bidding for back-to-back Fourstardave wins for Einsidler's LRE Racing and Francesa's JEH Racing Stable, it could give him the rare distinction of two wins in a pair of grade 1 New York turf stakes.

A two-time winner of the six-furlong Jaipur Stakes (G1T) for trainer Bill Mott, Casa Creed's 2023 campaign has already included a trip to Saudi Arabia for the $1.5 million 1351 Turf Sprint (G3), in which he was second, as well as a third in the Jaipur prior to the victory in the Kelso.

"He hasn't done much wrong lately," Mott said. "We're coming back on short rest for him, but he's doing well. He breezed well and he came out of his race good. So, if we get a good racetrack we'll try it again."

The winner of the Fourstardave will get a free spot in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge series, and for Casa Creed it would mark a fourth "Win and You're In" victory after his two wins in the Jaipur and last year's score in the Fourstardave.

Last year, the $2.1 million earner finished ninth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at a 5 1/2-furlong distance. With the Turf Sprint contested at five furlongs this year at Santa Anita Park, Mott said the year-end goal for Casa Creed would be the Mile.

Mott has enjoyed a measure of success at the Spa this summer that AARP members can appreciate as he has captured graded turf stakes with the 7-year-old Casa Creed and the 9-year-old Channel Maker , two veteran and popular performers with combined earnings of slightly more than $6 million.

"They have been regulars in the barn for a while and everyone gets to know them," he said. "They develop fans. Sometimes our athletes don't stick around as long as we'd want them to. But when you get a Casa Creed and a Channel Maker, people recognize the name, particularly when they are still running at the top level. There's a time when they all slow down and lose a step but they are still going good."

Bred in Kentucky by Silver Springs Stud, Casa Creed is out of the Bellamy Road  mare Achalaya, bloodlines that attracted considerable attention this week at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's New York Sale of Preferred Yearlings. Casa Creed, the first of Achalaya's seven foals, is a half brother to grade 3 winner Chess's Dream . Achalaya's yearling filly by Authentic   sold for $725,000 to Live Oak Plantation from the Paramount Sales consignment at this week's Spa sale. She also has a 2023 Curlin   filly.

Much like the Kelso, the main rival for Casa Creed will be Bass Racing's grade 1 winner Annapolis . The 4-year-old son of War Front   trained by Todd Pletcher was the 4-5 favorite in the July 15 stakes, but was forced to rally wide after Casa Creed got the jump on him and had to settle for second, a length behind.

The homebred Annapolis has finished first or second in nine of his 10 career starts, earning $1,376,370. He will carry 124 pounds, one less than highweighted Casa Creed under the handicap conditions.

The field of seven also includes Poker Stakes (G3T) winner Emmanuel  (More Than Ready) and Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, and Peter Deutsch's Ice Chocolat , a son of Goldikovic  who was fourth in the Kelso.