Filly Wonder Gadot to skip running for Canadian Triple Crown title

“I’m sorry, I feel bad,” Casse said. “I hate to let the Canadian fans down but really for her it just makes more sense to go this route.

“I have to look at what’s best for her and also what’s best for (owner) Gary Barber. That’s my job and this just makes more sense.”

Shortly after Tuesday night’s win, Casse left the door open to Wonder Gadot running in the Breeders’ Stakes because he’d not yet discussed the matter with Barber.

“Gary was out of the country so I wanted to wait and talk to him before I said anything for sure,” Casse said. “Gary Barber is as big a Canadian horse-racing fan as there is out there so it is a tough decision.

“We still want to be champion three-year-old filly and we think we have a shot. It’s a longshot but to do that we have to go and not just beat Canadian breds but we’ve got to go try and beat everybody.”

Wando remains the last Canadian Triple Crown champion, accomplishing the feat in 2003.

Casse reiterated the primary goal this year for Wonder Gadot is to have her run in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. There’d be little value in having the filly named after Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot go in the Breeders’ Stakes, a 1 1/2-mile turf event.

“I’ve said this all along, it’s my feeling turf is her least preferred surface,” Casse said. “If we went and ran 1 1/2 miles on the grass . . . then where do we go?

“We definitely aren’t going to run in the Breeders’ Cup going 1 1/2 miles on grass against the best horses in the world. Our goal is the Distaff, which is 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs, where she’s already run probably the best race of her life (close second to Monomoy Girl in the Kentucky Oaks in May). We have a goal and it’s a tough goal. You have to have so many things go right but you can’t lose sight of your goal and you have to do everything you can to achieve it.”

And what makes the decision not to go for the Canadian Triple Crown even more difficult is the feeling Wonder Gadot could win the title if she entered the Breeders’ Stakes.

“Oh yeah. I don’t really believe on any surface right now that there’s a Canadian-bred that could beat her,” Casse said. “Not a three-year-old, colt or filly.

“But it’s not about that.”

Casse said not even the presence of a lucrative Canadian Triple Crown bonus would’ve changed the decision.

“It’s not about more money,” he said. “I wouldn’t want Canada to change how it does (Triple Crown) because that’s what makes it so tough.

“I’m not saying for one minute it’s not right. It just doesn’t fit us.”

Casse, a 57-year-old Indianapolis native, hopes the Canadian racing community will support Wonder Gadot on her Breeders’ Cup quest.

“She’s gained a lot of Canadian and American fans and I’d hope Canadians would like to see her succeed and show her off in the U.S.,” he said. “I take great pride in Canada.

“I feel when I go and race that I’m representing Woodbine and Canada even though I’m not Canadian. I still feel I have such ties there that I always feel like I’m representing them and always try to represent them well.”

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Filly Wonder Gadot to skip running for Canadian Triple Crown title

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