Counting Stars looks to give Casse back-to-back wins in G1 Alabama pres. by Keeneland Sales

By Mary Eddy —-

Coady Media Photo

Counting Stars looks to give Casse back-to-back wins in G1 Alabama pres. by Keeneland Sales

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse has won some of North America’s most prestigious races, and one race in particular sat atop his ‘most-wanted’ list until last year when subsequent Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Nitrogen won the Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales at Saratoga Race Course. One year later, he seeks to defend his long-awaited title on Saturday with divisional standout Counting Stars.

“It’s something I would have never even dreamed of,” Casse said of having the chance to win back-to-back editions of the illustrious 10-furlong route for sophomore fillies. “It’s special, and hopefully we can win it again with another special filly.”

Campaigned by West Point Thoroughbreds, the daughter of Honor A.P. is the current leader of the division after her pair of sparkling Grade 1 wins this summer at the Spa, taking the DraftKings Acorn on June 5 and the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 25.

“She’s doing great and she has got a lot of energy, but she couldn’t be doing any better,” Casse said. “She’s a big filly, probably 16.3 [hands], and she’s just gotten bigger and stronger with racing. I think that’s the key here. A lot of horses plateau early and don’t improve, and she’s just gotten better and better. I’m not so sure she’s not at her best right now. She amazes me each and every day.”

Counting Stars [post 6, Irad Ortiz, Jr.] has been a model of consistency throughout this year, beginning with a three-quarter-length second behind subsequent Grade 1 Test presented by Ticketmaster-winner Explora in the Grade 3 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park, a strong reversal of form from her uncharacteristic off-the-board finish in the Listed Martha Washington to start her campaign. She romped to a 5 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2 Fantasy there three weeks later, securing her place in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks starting gate on the first Friday in May at Churchill Downs.

The talented filly’s game third-place effort 2 1/4 lengths behind the victorious Always a Runner was a precursor to the form she would find this summer at the Spa, where she made her first start after the Oaks in the Acorn and faced a rematch with Always a Runner. There, she stalked in third and showed a robust turn-of-foot under Irad Ortiz, Jr. to win by 3 3/4 lengths over her familiar foe for her first Grade 1 win.

Last out, Counting Stars was even more impressive when taking the Coaching Club American Oaks, switching it up with pacesetting tactics following the scratch of expected speed horses. She led throughout under Ortiz, Jr. and was met with a challenge from Always a Runner heading into the stretch, but drew off with ease to once again leave the Oaks winner in her wake and win by 4 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:48.98, earning a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Casse noted that Counting Stars is actually on a slightly more established trajectory on paper than Nitrogen was going into the Alabama last year. Nitrogen had won once on dirt with an open-lengths romp over sloppy and sealed footing in an off-the-turf edition of the Grade 3 Wonder Again here, and had not yet posted a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure.

“By this time last year, Nitrogen had won just the one race on dirt and to that point, Nitrogen didn’t run a triple-digit Beyer until she was four,” Casse commented. “Counting Stars did [last out], and I would say the similarity mostly is that they are both horses that continue to get better.”

The $150,000 purchase at the 2025 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training became the first Grade 1 winner for her sire Honor A.P. with her Acorn victory. She is out of the Paynter mare Paynterbynumbers.

Casse will also send out Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’ promising Measure [post 3, Flavien Prat], who was a valiant third in the Coaching Club American Oaks 6 3/4 lengths back of her accomplished stablemate and 2 1/2 lengths behind Always a Runner after a late bid from sixth-of-7.

“I was very pleased for her to run that well,” Casse said. “She’s doing well and is another one that seems to get better and better.”

The daughter of Essential Quality makes her seventh career start in the Alabama. She entered the Coaching Club American Oaks from a game runner-up effort versus elders in a local nine-furlong optional claiming tilt on June 4, a marked improvement from a sixth in a May optional claimer at Churchill Downs where she made her first effort against winners.

“We really liked her early on and she was kind of slow to come around, but she’s a big filly as well,” Casse said. “She’s not as broad as Counting Stars, and she’s going to really enjoy the mile and a quarter.”

Out of the Eskendereya mare Fateer, Measure is a half-sister to Grade 3-winner Bob and Jackie and Grade 2-placed Knockyoursocksoff, and was a $250,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Always a Runner will not reoppose in the Alabama and will be rerouted to the Grade 1 Cotillion on September 19 at Parx Racing, but her five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will still be represented by a live contender in Douglas Scharbauer’s in-form My Gun’s Loaded [post 4, Manny Franco].

A chestnut daughter of Gun Runner, the up-and-coming filly is 2-for-2 against elders over the Saratoga main track, including a last-out win in a one-mile optional claimer on July 24 that earned a career-best 94 Beyer. That performance came on the heels of a successful return from a more than five-month respite in a seven-furlong sprint on June 6 that she dominated by 4 1/4 lengths over next-out winner Krissys Star.

Both victories have come with stalk-and-pounce tactics from fifth under returning rider Manny Franco, and were a considerable improvement from her career debut when last-of-8 in a six-furlong maiden tilt in December at Oaklawn Park when in the care of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

My Gun’s Loaded has seen added ground with each of her starts, and faces her longest test to date in the Alabama. Brown said the filly’s class gives him confidence on Saturday.

“It’s a big jump in distance and that’s not ideal, but she’s had two good runs over the surface, which I like,” Brown said. “She’s been a nice addition to the barn and I’ve been very impressed with her since Day One.”

My Gun’s Loaded was a $650,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the stakes-placed Congrats mare Strive, a half-sister to Grade 3-placed Hip Hop N Jazz.

Jayson Werth’s Icon Racing Stable will be represented by the Whit Beckman-trained Nycon [post 1, Dylan Davis], who enters from a non-threatening sixth after a troubled trip last out in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

The daughter of Nyquist placed in a pair of one-mile stakes this winter, including a neck defeat to Haute Diva in the Cash Run in January at Gulfstream Park and a 3 3/4-length second to Paradise in the Listed Busher in February at Aqueduct Racetrack. She then landed a distant fourth in the Grade 3 Gazelle in April there and was away from the races until the Coaching Club American Oaks, where she had to alter course when carried out four-wide in the first turn. She tucked back in down the backstretch but lacked the needed kick when asked for her best in the latter stages.

“A horse came across her and she had to check a couple of times and it took her so far out of the race,” Beckman said. “By the backside, she had to try and make up ground and I didn’t see her once on the TV, so it is what it is. Just a tough trip. She’s talented, tough, and deserves every opportunity.”

A $375,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Nycon is out of the winning Awesome Again mare Raise the Flag, who has also produced the stakes-placed Stand Tall. Her regal bloodlines trace to her third dam, the undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign, and her second dam, the multiple Grade 1-winner and influential broodmare My Flag.

C R K Stable’s Grade 2-placed A. P.’s Girl [post 5, Tyler Gaffalione] has finished on-the-board in three consecutive stakes for trainer Peter Eurton, including a third to My Miss Mo in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan on May 15 at Laurel Park. That effort was sandwiched between 1 1/16-mile efforts when a half-length second to Ivy Girl in the Weber City Miss in April at Laurel and a last-out third to La Rascasse in the Monomoy Girl on June 13 at Churchill Downs.

The daughter of Honor A.P. holds a pair of wins this year at Fair Grounds Race Course in a sixth-out maiden victory in January and a first-level allowance score in March. She is out of the stakes-winning Shanghai Bobby mare March X Press and is a half-sister to Grade 3-winner Fort Bragg.

Completing the field is Pantofel Stable, Wachtel Stable and Gary Barber’s Ati Girl [post 2, John Velazquez], a last-out maiden winner in her ninth attempt for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The Nyquist bay is the lone filly in the field with experience at Saturday’s distance after finishing second against elders in an April maiden tilt at Churchill.

The Alabama is slated as Race 11 on Saturday’s 12-race program, which includes the Grade 2, $300,000 Ballston Spa presented by STIHL in Race 10. First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern.

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