TORONTO - It's been quite a week for Mark Casse.
On Thursday, the veteran trainer earned his 4,000th career win at Colonial Downs Racetrack in Virginia. Then on Sunday afternoon, No Time earned the Hall of Fame conditioner a record-tying fifth win in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks at Woodbine Racetrack.
"I've said it many, many times," Casse said via telephone from New York's Saratoga Racetrack. "How important are Woodbine and Canada to me? Very important. So to win races like the Oaks and King's Plate, it's a great honour."
No Time served notice she's a contender for the $1-million King's Plate on Aug. 16. She finished the 1 1/8-mile Oaks on Woodbine's Tapeta course in 1:50.14.
Earlier, Sedburys Ghost captured the $150,000 Plate Trial, also over 1 1/8 mile on Tapeta, in 1:50.37.
"As long as No Time comes out of the race happy and healthy she's a go (for King's Plate)," Casse said.
Casse has won the King's Plate three times, twice with fillies that ran previously in the Oaks.
In 2014, Lexie Lou completed the Oaks-Plate double, earning the 64-year-old Casse of Indianapolis his first Plate title. Four years later, Wonder Gadot crossed the finish line first following a second-place finish in the Oaks.
Casse's last Plate victory came in 2023 with Paramount Prince, which finished ahead of Oaks champion Elysian Field, another Casse-conditioned horse.
Standing fourth at the three-quarter mile mark Sunday, No Time, with John Velazquez aboard, surged to a comfortable 3 3/4-length victory ahead of Casse stablemates Shifty and Winterberry.
Casse tied Jim Day's record for most Oaks wins. Casse had five horses in the 12-horse field as War Signal was 10th and Ella It Is finished 11th.
"It was a real unique race for us," Casse said. "We had four horses with speed so I gave no instructions and they (jockeys) kind of did their own thing because I didn't want to interfere.
"As it turned out the pace was fast enough that Johnny was able to get No time to settle. She has had some troubles and I thought Johnny would suit her well and he did."
Casse doesn't expect either Shifty or Winterberry to run in the Plate. Casse said the race's 1 1/4-mile distance is a bit too challenging for Winterberry while Shifty could run in the Bison City Stakes 鈥 the second jewel of the 春色直播 Triple Tiara for fillies 鈥 at Woodbine on Aug. 9.
Velazquez believes No Time showed Sunday she has Plate-winning potential.
"I think if she can do that again and relax in the first part, obviously, the way she did today, I think she has a very good chance," he said.
In the Plate Trial, Ryan Munger rallied Sedburys Ghost down the stretch for the 1 1/4-length win. Sedburys Ghost, at 7-1 odds, came on strong to overtake leader Scorching for the victory.
"These quality horses are like push buttons," Munger said. "You just give them a clear run and they give it to you.
"My job as the pilot was just to get them around nice and relaxed and set them alight at the right time. I was always very confident for a good run here, I just needed a good trip."
Notorious Gangster, the 9-5 favourite, finished second while Scorching, also a 9-5 pick, held on for third in the field reduced to nine horses after Regal Guest scratched.
Trainer Barb Minshall was happy with her chestnut gelding's effort.
鈥淚 kind of like the pace in a way, because I knew he'd close, and Ryan found a good trip,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 knew if he found a clean run at the end, at top of the lane, I was really confident in him today. I have to say we were confident.
"Right from when we first started training I told Yawen (owner/breeder Yawen Wu), 'I think we have a pretty nice horse here.'"
Sedburys Ghost's win came following a fourth-place finish in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Marine Stakes on June 28.
"I thought he had a little bit of a troubled trip in the Marine,鈥 said Minshall. 鈥淚 thought he could have won that as well as any of the horses so I was real confident going here.鈥
Meanwhile, Ready for Shirl came on strong from the outside to win the $200,000 春色直播 Stakes, Ready for Shirl's first graded stakes victory. Emma-Jayne Wilson rallied the Roger Attfield trainee for the stirring decision over 1 1/8-mile on grass in 1:49.57.
鈥淪he鈥檚 been training exceptional,鈥 said Wilson. 鈥淗er last breeze last week on the training track turf was quite stellar, both physically and mentally.
"And so, she kind of telegraphed to us that she was going to showcase a big day today, and she showed up exactly as we expected."
Jockey Fraser Aebly rode Cruden Bay to a second consecutive win in the '$175,000 bet365 Connaught Cup. The seven-year-old had been out since last August due to injury.
Cruden Bay stood fourth turning for home but showed a tremendous kick in making up ground on leader Kehoe Beach, the 3-5 favourite. Cruden Bay finished with a 1 1/2-length win in 1:21.98 ahead of Northern Invader while Piper鈥檚 Factor was third ahead of Kehoe Beach.
This report by 春色直播was first published July 20, 2025.
