Conquest Harlanate Getting Needed Experience

Mark Casse trains so many horses for Conquest Stables that begin with the name Conquest, even he has trouble sorting them out. But if there is one he has locked firmly in his brain it is Conquest Harlanate, a 2-year-old filly by Harlan's Holiday who is improving so rapidly with every start, she has to be considered one of the favorites for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (gr. IT) at Santa Anita Park.

Pay no attention to Casse running her Oct. 5 in the 1 1/16-mile Mazarine Stakes (Can-III) on the Polytrack at Woodbine Racetrack or the fact she scored an impressive 2 1/4-length victory . Casse only put her in that race to give her experience going two turns. This is a grass filly and a darn good one, as she proved in her maiden victory going six furlongs and in her gutsy score in the one-mile Natalma Stakes over a yielding turf course.

"She doesn't have to win," Casse said prior to the Mazarine Stakes. "We know grass is her surface and this allows me to get another race into her and it allows her to get two turns. And I don't have to ship her anywhere to do it. Anytime you ship you're taking a chance on something happening.

"I thought her race in the Natalma was good and her maiden win was good. The reason I'm running her on the Polytrack is she has no turn experience. It's one thing to win at Woodbine going a mile and it's another to try to win at Santa Anita going a mile. It's two different worlds. So my thought is to try to get a two-turn race into this filly. She's trained well enough on the synthetic that I feel she has a chance to win, but I'm not so sure she's not a better grass filly. That's why we want to give her some experience on Sunday (Mazarine)."

And boy did she get experience. Bottled up in traffic along the inside and stuck behind horses turning for home. But when a seam opened, she burst through and demonstrated a push-button turn of foot, quickly drawing away to a convincing victory in 1:45.22 for the 1 1/16 miles.

Bred in Ontario by Windhaven Farm, Conquest Harlanate was sold as a yearling at the Keeneland January mixed sale for $75,000 and then pinhooked at the Keeneland September yearling, where Casse purchased her for Conquest Stables' owner Ernie Semersky's daughter, Lisa Orth, for $120,000.

She was then consigned to the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-year-olds in training sale, but it was decided to keep her and she was withdrawn from the sale and eventually sent to Casse to race in the Conquest Stables colors.

"When I look at horses I'll buy them big and I'll buy them small," Casse said. "But what they have to be first is an athlete. Little things about a horse don't bother me. I'm a pedigree guy. I don't just buy horses; I buy pedigree, and there was something about her pedigree that struck me. Another thing is, she's a Canadian-bred. I won't buy one just because they're Canadian-bred, but if I see one that I like and can check all the boxes I'll buy them. This year we bought out of Book 1. I've been going to the Keeneland sales since I was a boy and I'm used to buying out of Book 5 and 6."

Conquest Harlanate was the eighth winner produced by her dam, Allison's Pride, a daughter of Dixieland Band. Allison's Pride's dam, Mrs. Highness, is a stakes-placed daughter of Alydar, out of multiple stakes winner Famed Princess.

Although the Mazarine was just a prep for the Breeders' Cup, Casse was happy to win it, especially considering the trip the filly had.

"I was worried, because when we had breezed her, she showed she doesn't care to be pinned down on the inside, so I was concerned, but she handled it," Casse said. "It was a good performance and it shouldn't take too much out of her."