Fans flocked to Woodbine for the Turf Champions Day on September 14 and were greeted by warm and sunny weather and exciting horse races.
These were important races, too, and by day’s end, Woodbine’s leading trainer Mark Casse had won two of the three Grade 1, Win and You’re In stakes events that provide a free ticket into the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in November.
The star of the day was the Casse-trained WIN FOR THE MONEY, owned by Charlotte Weber’s Live Oak Plantation, who won the biggest race of his career with a sneak attack up the rail to take the $1 million Rogers Woodbine Mile at 13-to-1 under Hall of Fame jockey Patrick Husbands. A five-year-old chestnut splashed with plenty of chrome, Win for the Money was making his fourth start of the year and winning his second stakes, his first graded race.
Not only were Weber and the Casse team celebrating Win for the Money’s victory, but it was also a huge win for the gelding’s young sire, Mohaymen, who is owned by Ontario breeder Jay Hayden and stands at Northern Dawn Stable in Hillsburgh.
On a day when a powerful group of British invaders trained by Charlie Appleby were blanked in the three races they were in, Casse and his Woodbine team had Win for the Money on point to grab the cash in the major stepping-stone race for the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
A maiden breaker at Woodbine in 2021 in his second race, Win it for the Money raced on Tapeta for six straight races, winning on optional claiming/allowance at Turfway Park in 2022. He tried grass for the first time in April 2023, won two straight (although he was disqualified from one) and then raced in the Arlington Million at Colonial Downs, finishing fifth.
He had three months before returning to Woodbine for a pair of Tapeta graded stakes, the Autumn (G2) and Valedictory (G3) and finished second and third, respectively. The gelding was away for five months before he returned with a huge win in the Mr. Steele Stakes at Gulfstream on the turf, running the 1 1/16 miles in a sizzling 1:38.40 for a 102 Beyer Figure.
“When he won that race I started thinking of the Woodbine Mile for him,” said Casse from Lexington, where he bought 10 yearlings at the Keeneland September Sale while keeping an eye on the Woodbine races. “His last two races, both riders had him sitting back when there was no pace.”
Win for the Money was meeting seven rivals for the Mile which had yet another heavy favourite in the lineup from Godolphin and Appleby. Naval Power (Ire) had two near misses in his first two races in the US and simply looked best on form next to another Casse-trainee, FILO DI ARIANNA, a two-time champion in Canada in 2022.
And ‘Filo’ zipped right out to a clear lead under Kazushi Kimura, rattling over the very firm E.P. Taylor turf course in fractions of
23.05, 45.44, and 1:08.80. Around the turn, Filo was fending off mild, wide rallies by longshot Niagara Skyline and buckling down for Naval Power and Group 1 winner Big Rock. The speedster held tough in the late stages until Husbands and his flashy mount charged up the rail to win by 1 1/4 in a fast time of 1:32.11. He earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. Big Rock landed third and Naval Power was fourth.
A $320,000 Fasig-Tipton two-year-old purchase by Weber through Casse in 2022, Win for the Money was a $95,000 yearling. He was bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
The gelding’s dam, Mayakoba, by War Chant, was unplaced in two races and her only other foal to race is stakes winner Price Tal. Win it for the Money’s fourth dam is the great Terlingua, dam of Storm Cat.
This was the second Woodbine Mile win for Weber as her World Approval won in 2017. It was Casse’s third Mile win as he also scored with Tepin in 2018.
Win it for the Money paid $29.30 to win.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Casse. “We gave this horse a lot of time, Mrs. Weber is a big advocate of giving horses a rest. Sometimes you just have to give horses a lot of time and let them develop.” Now with five wins in 15 races and earnings of $64,938, Win it for the Money is headed to the Breeders Cup Mile (G1) at Del Mar on November 2.
Casse suggested Filo di Arianna could also be entered in the Mile.
The trainer was pleased with the sixth-place run of three-year-old My Boy Prince, who lost a lot of ground around the turn for home.
Earlier in the day, Casse and Weber celebrated a win in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes with AND ONE MORE TIME (see separate news items here about the Natalma and Summer Stakes (G1).)
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