Gulfstream: Hall of Famer Casse Pointing Three to Herecomesthebride (G3)

By David Joseph —-

Hall of Famer Casse Pointing Three to Herecomesthebride (G3)

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse is hoping that he has all the answers in Saturday’s $200,000 Herecomesthebride (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

Three of the 10 fillies entered in the race will come out of Casse’s barn. Pounce, owned by Resolute Racing; Tracy Farmer’s Time to Dazzle and Dancing N Dixie from Quintessential Racing Florida LLC, Rocky Top Stable and LEMB Stables make up the Casse triumvirate.

The one-mile Herecomesthebride for 3-year-old fillies on the turf is the third of nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.85 million in purses on a blockbuster 14-race program headlined by the $400,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds.

Pounce will be making her first start in stakes company and her second try on grass. The first one came in her seasonal debut, a 7 1/2-furlong allowance at Gulfstream Feb. 11. She overcame post position 11 and cruised to a front-running 2 1/4-length victory.

Under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano, who gets the return call Saturday, Pounce ran the quarter in 22.85 seconds, the half in 45.92 and six furlongs in 1:09.46. The final time was 1:26.93.

“She was extremely impressive in that race,” Casse said. “She was able to overcome a terrible post. What impressed me was her turn of foot. She made the lead with some fast fractions and then settled and kept on running.”

John Stuart’s Resolute Racing purchased Pounce at the Fasig-Tipton February Digital Sale for $370,000, the sales topper.

“I really think she has the potential to be a really good horse,” Casse said.

This will be the third consecutive race that Pounce has been saddled with post 11. She also started from No. 11 when she was sixth in her first try against winners at Turfway Park going a mile on a synthetic surface Dec. 13

Pounce broke her maiden in her career debut at Churchill Downs on Nov. 19. The Kentucky-bred was sired by Lookin At Lucky is out of the Twirling Candy mare Bouncy.

“Look at her pedigree,” Casse said. “I thought she wanted the grass and that’s why I moved her to Florida. That first race [on the grass] was not easy. Now, she draws another tough post against a tougher bunch of horses.”

Dancing N Dixie and Time to Dazzle were last seen running in the one-mile Ginger Brew at Gulfstream Jan. 6. They were no match for the top two finishers – the Christophe Clement-trained Ozara and Life’s an Audible from Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.

Dancing N Dixie finished sixth and Time to Dazzle seventh. Ozara and Life’s an Audible are also in the Herecomesthebride.

Time to Dazzle, who will be ridden by Joe Bravo, is her own worst enemy, Casse said.

“She doesn’t obey her rider at any point in time,” he said. “If she ever learns to relax, she has the potential to be a very good horse. In her last race she broke a little slow and wanted to run over the top of everybody. For her so show her full potential, she has to learn to chill a little bit. We are hoping with time and maturity she does that. We’ll find out Saturday.”

Dancing N Dixie made her turf debut in the Ginger Brew and didn’t have the smoothest of trips. She was bumped at the start and then encountered traffic in the stretch and was never a factor.

“Better trip, she might have been right there,” Casse said.

Paco Lopez is listed to ride Dancing N Dixie for the first time.

Ozara has had a strong winter at Gulfstream with two wins in as many starts. She also won the Wait a While going 7 1/2 furlongs Dec. 23. Life’s an Audible won the Sweetest Chant (G3) as the 2-1 favorite Feb. 3. She was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filllies Turf (G1) in November.

Also entered in the Herecomesthebride are Mystic Lake, Crown Imperial, Macanga, Show Off, Irish Maxima and Agra.

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