Casse Looking for Another Canadian Horse of the Year

Five horses that have run for trainer Mark Casse have been named Horse of the Year in Canada.

He is hoping to get a sixth this year.

Casse, a Hall of Famer in the United States and Canada, is aiming for a major Canadian trophy for his 5-year-old mare Fev Rover , who is coming off a win last weekend in the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) at Colonial Downs.

Casse said Aug. 17 that the next stop for Fev Rover will be the CA$200,000 Canadian Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine Sept. 9. If all goes well there, the daughter of Gutaifan  would point to the CA$750,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T), also at Woodbine, Oct. 8.

The season would conclude for the Tracy Farmer-owned mare in the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park.

Fev Rover has two wins in three starts this season. She also won Nassau Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine July 1 before finishing third to the Chad Brown-trained Whitebeam and In Italian  in the Diana Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Course July 15.

To be eligible to be a Canadian Horse of the Year, it is required that a horse race at least three times in Canada during a given year. The last Canadian Horse of the Year to come out of Casse's barn was Wonder Gadot  in 2018.

Casse said Fev Rover is in Saratoga and will ship to Woodbine next week.

Running in the Beverly D. was not on the radar, Casse said, until after she ran in the Diana.

"I wasn't 100% sure how she fit in with the better fillies in this country," Casse said at the Saratoga backstretch. "She is a different horse than she was last year, a much better horse."

Casse said when Fev Rover first came to his barn, she weighed about 1,050 pounds; he says she is over 1,200 now.

He is so impressed with the progression of Fev Rover, Casse has gone so far to compare her to the mighty Tepin , the American champion female turf horse in 2015 and 2016 and a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame's class of 2022 as well as the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame class of 2020.

Overall, Fev Rover has five wins, four seconds and three thirds in 17 starts for career earnings of $948,776.

"Tepin was kind of a bull and she is a bull as well," Casse said. "(Fev Rover) still has a lot to prove but the one similarity is that they both thrive on racing. She is the real deal."