Coaching Club Likely Next for Acorn Runner-Up Salty

Given what transpired on the June 10 card at Belmont Park, Salty's run in the Acorn Stakes (G1) could be considered a moral victory in absence of an actual triumph.

On a day where four Bob Baffert-trained charges ran roughshod over their respective stakes competition, Salty's one-length defeat to Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Abel Tasman in the Acorn represented as much of a challenge any other horses from the Hall of Fame trainer's barn had to face en route to the winner's circle.

"I had a conversation with Bob the next day, and I told him 'I've been telling everyone we're the only ones who got close to beating you,'" joked trainer Mark Casse. "No one else even got close. We at least made him run for his money."

Casse still thinks there's more to be unearthed where Salty is concerned, specifically a top-level victory out there with her name on it. The daughter of Quality Road   will likely get her next chance to earn some outright accolades in the July 23 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

The 1 1/8-mile Coaching Club American Oaks was tabbed by Casse as Salty's upcoming target following her five-furlong breeze in 1:00 1/5 at Churchill Downs July 7. The work was the second timed move for the graded stakes-winning bay filly since her Acorn outing, which marked her second loss to Abel Tasman, having previously run fifth in the Kentucky Oaks.

Unraced as a juvenile, Salty finished second in her debut in a maiden test at Gulfstream Park Feb. 4 and then returned to win second time out by 2 1/2 lengths March 5. When she took the Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) by 4 1/4 lengths in her third career outing, Casse wasn't shy in stating his confidence about what she could achieve come the first Friday in May. That outcome didn't pan out, but the Canadian Hall of Fame conditioner hasn't backed off his belief there is more upside to come for the filly owned by Gary Barber, Baccari Racing Stable, and Chester Prince.

"I think Salty's pretty good and (assistant trainer) Norman (Casse) was very excited about the way she breezed today," Casse said.

Salty will be among the fistful of horses the Casse barn is planning to run opening weekend at Saratoga, with fellow graded stakes winner Dream Dancing slated for the July 21 Lake George Stakes (G3T).

The Saratoga meet is also likely to mark the stateside return of John Oxley's multiple graded stakes winner La Coronel, who emerged "good but tired," according to Casse, from her fifth-place effort in the June 23 Coronation Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot.

The daughter of Colonel John didn't embarrass herself overseas, finishing a couple lengths behind a wicked Aidan O'Brien-trained trio led by multiple group 1 heroine Winter. She is slated to start back in the  Aug. 19 Lake Placid Stakes (G2T) going 1 1/8-miles.

"(Jockey) Florent (Geroux) said that he never could get her really comfortable during the race, and just the last 40 or 50 yards she finally was like 'Oh, I'm supposed to run,'" Casse said. 

Casse added that Oxley's reigning juvenile male champion Classic Empire is scheduled to return to the work tab this weekend in what would be his first breeze since missing the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) due to an abscess in his right front. The hoof took longer than expected to fully heal, according to the trainer, but a start in the July 30 Betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park remains the objective for the son of Pioneerof the Nile  .

"The foot hasn't come back quite as quickly as we'd hoped, but he's doing well now," Casse said of Classic Empire. "We've changed his shoes a couple times, and he's happy now. He's doing well. We did get some bad weather so that pushed us back another day or two, but we're going to start breezing him this weekend.

"Obviously, we have to start cranking him up but he did do a little something the other day. He picked it up pretty good and had a good gallop with a good blow. It was kind of a two-minute lick. He's been doing more than it looks."

One Casse trainee not making an appearance on track this summer is Canadian champion Catch a Glimpse. The 4-year-old daughter of City Zip   is currently at Bluewater Sales in Kentucky after getting some time off when she bled and collapsed during the Nassau Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine May 27 and is likely to be offered at public auction in November.

"I think she'll be in the November sale," said Casse, who added he didn't know if Catch a Glimpse would be sold as a racing or broodmare prospect or broodmare prospect only. "That being said, she just went through some extensive tests and they couldn't find anything wrong with her. She's great. But right now, she'll go in the November sale and we'll go from there."