Tepin, Classic Empire Doing Well Post BC

Trainer Mark Casse's seven Breeders' Cup entrants are all well as of Nov. 6, including champion grass mare Tepin, a charging second in her Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT) defense attempt, who appeared no worse for the wear. 

"She ran a winning race and I'm not overly upset about it," Casse said. "She was maybe just a little unlucky. The winner ran great, too, and we can hold our head high. All the doubters were wrong, so that is satisfying. 

"She has a funny way of running," he continued. "She's not the easiest to maneuver and is not easy to steer because she runs with her head cocked, but I think Julien (Leparoux) did a great job given the situation. I could not have asked for a better trip. It's like with Valadorna. Even though she got hung up for a second and it maybe cost her the race, the reason she was able to run as well as she did was because Julien had given her such a good trip."

A little more exhausted was Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) victor Classic Empire, who stamped himself as the early Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) favorite with a stalk-and-pounce victory for owner John C. Oxley. 

"I think he's a little tired, but he ran his butt off," Casse said with satisfaction. "Given what happened with Valadorna, Julien wanted to make sure we weren't too far away (from the front). We broke running and he looked at the opportunity and saw it. I was extremely happy going into the first turn and thought 'well we have no excuses from here.'"

Casse confirmed that Classic Empire would be pointed to the Kentucky Derby and winter in Florida.

Stonestreet Stables' Valadorna finished runner up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) despite a traffic-riddled trip. The effort was her first outside of maiden company. The sizable bay Curlin   filly is the lone horse to race for the Casse-Stonestreet team, according to Casse.

"She looked good this morning," Casse said. "Obviously the (Kentucky) Oaks would be our hope. I think she would probably be our leading candidate for that right now."

Gary Barber and partners' Catch a Glimpse exited her off-the-board effort in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr.IT) in top shape, but is likely headed for a rest after a campaign in which she earned more than $1.1 million and won five of eight starts in 2016.

"Crazy enough, Catch a Glimpse has more energy than anyone this morning," Casse said. "She's going to go home. She's had a long, hard campaign. She could run back with how good she feels, but (instead) she's going to go home (to) grow up a little bit. We're going to figure out a spring campaign for her and get her back on the winning track. I don't see her and Tepin hooking up together."

The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (gr. IT) was the most frustrating event of the World Championships for the Casse team. Very high on both of their chances when entered, things did not go according to plan for Live Oak Plantation's Victory to Victory and John C. Oxley's La Coronel. Victory to Victory was scratched the morning of the race after popping a splint and La Coronel drew post 14 (moved in to 13 after her stablemate's scratch), she was shuffled back in the first turn and wide throughout before finishing mid-pack.

"Tough trip for her," Casse said with chagrin. "I was really confident in her. You can't give a good filly like the winner (New Money Honey) 44 feet. You just can't do it. (La Coronel) was the most frustrating because nobody got to see how great she is. She could have maybe handled the 44 feet, but what she couldn't handle was losing all her position in the first turn. The horse in front of her backed up into her and then we were last down the backside. People maybe have said that Florent (Geroux) moved too soon, but he had to move at that point to have any chance of winning. It was just bad luck. She's going to go home and grow up a little bit. 

"I like getting a few starts into our horses (at age 2)," he continued. "I think it makes them better and smarter, and this filly is very good."

Victory to Victory will live to fight another day, according to the three-time Breeders' Cup-winning trainer. 

"The good news is her injury is very minor," Casse said. "She's an extremely talented filly and she'll have her day. Of course it was disappointing for Mrs. Weber, and I feel bad for her. A couple years ago American Pharoah   had to scratch and Beholder had to scratch last year and those turned out all right. We're OK."

Never a serious factor in the the Juvenile Turf, Gary Barber's Keep Quiet exited his off-the-board finish in the race in good shape and will move forward to a sophomore campaign, according to Casse.