Mark Casse, who was tied with the late Frank Passero for the most wins (89) by a trainer in a single Woodbine meet, set the new standard when Masked Maiden captured the 10th race Oct. 1 at the Toronto oval, eclipsing the mark established in 1995.
Masked Maiden, a 3-year-old Sky Mesa filly owned by Nuckols Farm and Debby M. Oxley, notched her second win of the campaign under jockey Omar Moreno, a nose win in a photo, to give the conditioner his 90th win. She paid $8.10 for the win in the mile and 70 yard off-the-turf allowance timed in 1:43.57.
That the record-setting win came with a horse partly owned by the Oxley family was fitting.
"It's really nice to be able to win for the Oxleys, because they've been such big supporters of ours," said Casse, a native of Indianapolis, Ind. "Anytime you can do something no one has ever done, that's special. To win more races than anyone has ever done here (at Woodbine) is quite an achievement for me."
Casse, in line to become Woodbine’s leading conditioner for the fifth consecutive year, is enjoying a tremendous campaign with 11 stakes victories, nine of which were notched at the Toronto track.
The three-time Sovereign Award-winning conditioner has scored a pair of graded stakes victories this season with Pool Play in the grade I Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs and with Northern Passion in the grade II Natalma at Woodbine.
He currently sits 49 wins ahead of his nearest competitor.
The conditioner's record-setting tally arrived with his 391st start of the meet, improving on Passero's record, which was accomplished in 415 starts during the 1995 meet.
Casse will look to increase his record tally on the Oct. 2 card in which he has horses entered in seven of 10 races, starting with a coupled entry of John C. Oxley-owned maidens Delightful Magic and Matching Skies, in the first race.
