Kentucky Oaks: La Cara’s Ashland Win Keeps Casse Rolling

you're listening to an article from canadian thoroughbred.com. kentucky oaks: la cara’s ashland win keeps casse rolling by: jennifer morrison |. things are going very well for trainer mark casse and his vast stable of horses and in just a few weeks he has major contenders in two races he has yet to win, the kentucky oaks (g1) on may 2 and the kentucky derby (g1) on may 3. casse, who has been woodbine’s leading trainer by wins for five consecutive years and has 16 sovereign awards for outstanding trainer, sent out tracy farmer’s homebred la cara to an emphatic win in the ashland stakes (g1) at keeneland on april 5, earning 100 points for the oaks. la cara is second by points with 158 behind quietside, 168, with all of the prep races completed. and casse has perhaps the best chance of his career for a derby win with the stretch-running sandman, who won the arkansas derby (g1) and is showing off his looks at churchill downs this week. advertisement scroll to continue with content farmer, who bred la cara, and casse shared a fun story following the filly’s front-running ashland win. “i asked mr. farmer what he wanted to do with this filly as a three-year-old, and he said, ‘i’d really like to win the ashland,’ ” casse said. “so my job is done.”. of course, now farmer and casse are eyeing the $1.5 million oaks. last year, la cara (street sense) won the grade 3 pocahontas at churchill downs and she began 2025 with a front-running victory in the suncoast stakes at tampa bay downs. following a second-place run behind the now-retired the queens m g in the davona dale stakes (g2) on march 1, la cara was very strong on the pace under dylan davis last weekend. she will be tackling 1 1/8 miles for the first time in the oaks. the day after the ashland, two casse-trained fillies, nitrogen and vixen, ran one-two in the grade 2 appalachian stakes on the grass. nitrogen is up for champion two-year-old filly in canada at the april 24 sovereign awards. fourteen (14) fillies can race in the kentucky oaks and already one horse has drawn in from the also eligible list. # horse – points – non-restricted stakes earnings/career earnings – trainer – in 2025. 1. quietside – 168 – $902,200 / $957,200 – john ortiz – fantasy, honeybee 2. la cara – 158 – $779,508 / $866,083 – mark casse – ashland 3. good cheer – 145 – $785,470 / $877,630 – brad cox – 6 for 6 4. tenma – 133 – $504,000 / $549,000 – bob baffert – sa oaks 5. five g – 125 – $351,590 / $393,740 – george weaver – gp oaks 6. ballerina d’oro – 120 – $184,375 / $286,975 – chad brown – gazelle 7. early on – 75 – $90,000 / $162,200 – saffie joseph – (her dam is a sister to five g’s dam) 8. take charge milady – 70 – $336,875 / $416,469 – ken mcpeek – 2nd ashland 9. simply joking – 70 – $288,000 / $288,000 – w. beckman 10. bless the broken – 67.5 – $238,060 / $282,835 – w walden – bourbonette 11. the queens m g – 56 – $379,100 / $424,980 – injured 12. drexel hill – 56 – $127,000 / $180,520 – w. beckman – busher 13. silent law – 53 – $127,460 / $151,460 – bob baffert 14. muhimma – 50 – $249,688 / $391,648 – brad cox – 3rd ashland. ae 15. queen azteca – 50 – $160,704 / $245,836 – out 16. fondly – 50 – $150,000 / $169,200 17. ahavah – 50 – $80,000 / $113,000 18. maysam – 50 – $62,500 / $98,500 19. anna’s promise – 50 – $49,500 / $150,854.