Fellowship transfers to Casse barn, still under consideration for Kentucky Derby; Catch a Glimpse exits Appalachian in good order

Edited Press Release

Jacks or Better Farm Inc.’s homebred Fellowship, who currently sits at No.19 on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 32 points, remains under consideration for the May 7 Kentucky Derby (G1) after switching barns from trainer Stanley Gold to conditioner Mark Casse.

How the Florida-bred son of Awesome of Course trains at Churchill Downs will ultimately determine his Derby status.

“It’s not like we’re really 100 percent sure just yet,” assistant trainer Norman Casse said Friday morning. “We’re going to breeze him and if he’s doing well then we’ll run, and if we don’t think he’s training well then there’s no pressure to run him.

“But so far so good. He’s been training well since he got here. He’s just been galloping for the past couple of days we’ll probably breeze him Sunday or Monday if he continues to do well.”

Fellowship is coming off a trio of third-place efforts at Gulfstream Park in the Holy Bull (G2), Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby (G1), respectively. Should they opt not to race the stakes-winning colt in the Kentucky Derby, Casse was unsure as to where they would race him.

“I don’t know any back up plans yet, we’ll just see how he trains and then pick something out for him,” he said. “But right now it’s the Derby and if he’s not training well then maybe we’ll back off of him and find something else for him.”

Casse also went onto speak of Thursday’s Appalachian (G3) winner Catch a Glimpse, stating that the Canadian Horse of the Year is a possibility for the $150,000 Edgewood (G3) on the May 6 Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard.

“I think that’s a possibility, but we’re a little apprehensive because of the crowd,” Casse said. “She’s a pretty flighty filly, which sounds kind of crazy since she’s won the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Fillies Turf [G1]) and been to all the big racetracks but the Oaks crowd will be a lot different from anything else she’ll ever see. I almost feel like the crowd deserves to see her, so we’ll see how she trains.”

The Appalachian was the three-year-old daughter of City Zip’s fifth consecutive win and brought her turf record to a perfect five-for-five.

“I don’t know if we’ve seen how good she really is,” Casse admitted. “I feel like when she makes the lead she starts doing goofy things because she’s pulling herself up and not really paying attention.

“It almost seems like she’s distance limited, but no one can really get to her so I’m wondering if the further she goes on if she’s just going to keep doing the same thing. If you go back and watch the race, she galloped out a long way. She still had tons of horse left after the race.”

“She tends to pull up when she gets to the front, but she was strong in the gallop-out yesterday,” assistant trainer David Carroll agreed. “There is still plenty left in the tank.”

Catch a Glimpse exited Keeneland’s Appalachian in good order, according to Carroll.

“She is bright eyed and bushy-tailed this morning,” he said. “In the two weeks I have been around her, she seems to be bigger and stronger.

“If she does go in the Edgewood, I would guess she would stay over here and then go to Churchill a few days before,” Carroll added. “She likes it a little quieter.”

Another new face in the Casse barn for Jacks or Better Farm is Swale (G2) victor Awesome Banner, a well-beaten eighth last out in the March 12 Tampa Bay Derby (G2), who is likely to point to either the $100,000 William Walker Memorial – the opening night feature at Churchill Downs on Saturday, April 30 – or the $250,000 Pat Day Mile (G3) on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Fellowship photo courtesy of Leslie Martin/Adam Coglianese Photography
Catch a Glimpse photo courtesy of Keeneland/Coady Photography