There will be a touch of nostalgia attached to the Aug. 8 Whitney Stakes (G1) thanks to trainer Mark Casse and D. J. Stable's brilliant 4-year-old filly Nitrogen.
In an era when blockbuster showdowns outside of the Breeders' Cup and Triple Crown are few and far between, the Whitney has indeed brought the "best of the best" to Saratoga Race Course for an electric battle between the sport's best male and female dirt stars.
Just having Magnitude, Sovereignty, Baeza, and White Abarrio in the field of eight makes the 1 1/8-mile Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In event sensational, but the sportsmanship involved in running the champion filly Nitrogen harkens back to a different era. Specifically, the late 1980s when Lady's Secret and Personal Ensign—the last two distaff stars to win the stakes—captured the 1986 and 1988 editions, respectively, of the Whitney.
"A lot of factors went into this but the main one is the fact that Mark Casse believes this is the right race for her and he's done it so many times in the past, running fillies against open company," said Jonathan Green, racing manager for his father and stable owner and founder, Len.
Casse, a Hall of Famer in the United States and Canada, is a throwback at a time when horses run less often and many of the top horses finish a year with only a handful of starts. Casse is unafraid to run on short rest if a horse is ready or run a horse in a spot where it is more likely to get an education rather than a win.
He's also quite experienced in sending out fillies to beat males as evidenced by Hall of Famer Tepin, who beat males in famed grade 1 and group 1 stakes, and Got Stormy, a two-time winner of the Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) in open company.
"To say this is not an easy spot is an understatement. This is as good of a Whitney as you'll ever see," Casse said. "But I've never shied away from a challenge. Tepin took on the world. I think the time is right for Nitrogen to face males and I've done it on more than one occasion and I have been successful doing it."
That willingness to embrace a challenge explains why many of the top trainers own winning percentages in the mid-20s, while Casse is winning at a 17% clip this year. In his career, with more than 4,200 wins according to Equibase, he owns a 16% mark. Yet the faith owners like the Greens, Live Oak, Gary Barber, West Point Thoroughbreds, John Oxley, and Tracy Farmer have in Casse are a powerful endorsement.
"We have a lot of confidence in Mark," Green said. "He does what every individual horse needs. If a horse needs a race to learn how to get dirt in their face or accelerate around turns, or go through a hole, he'll do it. He's not afraid to get a horse educated in a race and he's not worried about his statistics. That's the furthest thing from his mind and he appreciates that he has numerous owners that want to win every time but also want to make sure their horses get the best education from each experience."
Though the Greens have worked with Casse for seven years, Jonathan Green learned a great deal about him last year when Nitrogen was voted the champion 3-year-old filly.
After the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro won the Alabama Stakes (G1) to virtually clinch the division championship, Green thought the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1), a race restricted to 3-year-old fillies, would be the next target before facing older rivals in the year-end Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). But Casse had another idea.
"Mark wanted to face older fillies and mares in the Spinster. He said he wanted to know if she's good enough to run against the best fillies and mares in the country. He would rather know sooner than later instead of going to California not knowing if she's legitimate," Green said. "It took me a while to understand where he was coming from, but he was 100% right. You would rather know while she's peaking where you are at with her."
Nitrogen confirmed the belief in her with a game loss by a head in the Spinster Stakes (G1) at Keeneland and then a runner-up finish in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.
Months later, similar thoughts went into the decision to face males in the Whitney after an explosive 12 3/4-length victory over females in the June 5 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) at the Spa.
"She's doing tremendous. She had a great work (July 31) and looks great afterward. She's gotten bigger and stronger and she's ready," Casse said. "She likes this track (3-for-3 on Saratoga's main track). When you put her up against those colts, she's not going to look like a filly. She's big and strong. If we were going to try colts, this is the place. She loves it here."
Green had no problem with the decision.
"Certainly, it's the toughest race that Nitrogen has ever been entered into. It's probably the toughest race that we've ever run in as an organization over the past 40 years. There are seven millionaires and six grade 1 winners and you don't see that too often without a Breeders' Cup insignia next to it," Green said. "If we want to know if she is a generational talent and a Hall of Fame talent, we need to run against the best of the best. The way things are lining up time-wise, distance-wise, racetrack-wise, this is the right moment for us to take on the best of the best. It took a few days to sink in but Mark was 100% correct and win, lose, or draw, this is the right decision for her at this time."
Aside from the challenge, Casse also likes the timing of the Whitney as he plans to run Nitrogen next in the Spinster to give her a two-turn prep at Keeneland in advance of the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup at the Lexington track.
"Our main goal is the Breeders' Cup," Casse said. "I thought if she ran in the (July 24) Shuvee (at Saratoga versus fillies and mares), it would not have served any purpose. The Whitney serves a purpose to then take us to the Spinster."
Nitrogen earned a "Win and You're In" spot to the Distaff through her win in the Phipps, but should Nitrogen emulate Lady's Secret and Personal Ensign—not to mention Tepin and Got Stormy—and get a free spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic with a Whitney victory, there could be a richer and longer rematch with the guys in the future. She already owns a win at the Classic's 1 1/4-mile distance thanks to the Alabama.
"When we decided to run her in the Whitney, it was with the idea she earned it," Green said. "With all due respect to the Shuvee and other options that were out there against fillies, we didn't feel that was the opportunity we wanted to take. We felt since June she was going to run in this race against boys and if she runs well or wins all options are on the table for her come the end of October."
