A bad ending for Mark Casse as Hippolytus dissapoints while Clement Rock on target and Dene Court valiant in defeat
Trainer Mark Casse had a disappointing outing in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie as Hippolytus who finished second in the Queen’s Plate could not build on his previous effort, resulting in the fourth place
finish for the gelding.
Although, Mark Casse got a lot of joy from his home front in a couple of stakes as the three-year-colt Clement Rock with his usual jockey, Luis Contreras, presented the trainer with his sixth stakes' win in the $156,000 Toronto Cup Stakes.
In the $151,200 Shady Well Stakes, Casse’s two fillies, Dene Court the chestnut filly and Miss Quality gave the winner Judy The Beauty a tough time in the 5 ½ furlong event, Judy The Beauty, three of three, got to the wire first.
Dene Court finished second and Miss Quality fourth at the Woodbine race track.
The Hippolytus disappointment was compensated by many good performances his horses displayed on the day.
But the one which turned heads was Clement Rock’s masterful display of skill and stamina at the Woodbine race track. Bred in Florida, Clement Rock is owned by Eugene Melnyk.
The son of Strong Hope wasn’t run as a two-year-old and began his racing career as a three-year-old, this year.
His first race was at a sloppy, off the turf, race track at Fair Grounds, where he intended to break his maiden in a maiden special weight race and finished 11th on the day because of the sloppy going on 4 March.
Next up was another shot at a maiden race, but this time at Woodbine race track under jockey Luis Contreras.
The colt had a longer distance to contend this time at 1 1/16 miles as compare to his last maiden race which was 5 and a half furlongs.
Another turf campaign with a new jockey under much better conditions helped Clement Rock to progress as he broke his maiden on 10 June.
Since then he has run three times at Woodbine and won all of the three starts with Luis Contreras. On 25 June trainer Mark Casse proposed Charlie Barley Stakes for Clement Rock over a mile. The colt expanded his winning run there as well.
His last start was also at Woodbine, but a more serious test then the previous ones. His longest test to date, run at a distance of 1 1/8 miles on turf. The colt was sent as the 3 to 5 favourite to win the race.
Clement Rock gave his all to finish a neck over Celtic Conviction under regular ride Luis Contreras.
Trainer Mark Casse described the race as not pretty.
He was happy that his colt won, but he got worried when he opened up the race when he was leading.
Hippolytus unconvincing downside brought a Toronto Cup winner and a Shady Well Stakes runner up upside for trainer Mark Casse.
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