{
    "title": "Casse's Casson crowned in King Corrie Stakes",
    "modified_at": "2026-05-18 03:37:36",
    "published_at": "2026-05-18 00:00:00",
    "url": "http://newsroom.woodbine.com/casses-casson-crowned-in-king-corrie-stakes",
    "short_url": "http://prez.ly/mUGd",
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    "slug": "casses-casson-crowned-in-king-corrie-stakes",
    "body": "<p>Toronto, May 17, 2026&mdash; King&rsquo;s Plate nominee Casson overcame a troubled start and cruised home a comfortable winner in Sunday&rsquo;s $100,000 King Corrie Stakes at Woodbine. \u200b \u200b </p><p>Trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Rafael Hernandez, the grey/roan son of Caravaggio was bumped at the break but recovered to gain an outside stalking position in 4<sup>th</sup>, through an opening quarter-mile in 22.71. \u200b \u200b </p><p>Highwaytothemoon and Impulsive Bid, both recent winners at the local meet, battled into the turn with Highwaytothemoon leading inside, by a head through an opening half-mile in 45.59. \u200b \u200b </p><p>Hernandez and Casson teamed to win the 2025 Victoria Stakes and were reunited for the first time since winning that event last July. Mid-turn, Hernandez gave his colt the cue to go after the leaders. At the top of the stretch, Highwaytothemoon had put away Impulsive Bid, as Casson closed three-wide, engaged the leader and edged past, going on to score in the 7-furlong dash for 3-year-olds, by 1 and &frac12; lengths. \u200b \u200b </p><p>Owned by Manfred and Penny Conrad and bred in Ontario by Ballycroy Training Centre and Villa Rosa Farms, Casson was a $200,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September 2024 sale. He broke his maiden at Woodbine at first asking winning a 4 and half furlong sprint by 4 lengths under recently retired local legend Patrick Husbands. Next out, Hernandez took the call in the Victoria Stakes, which the paired teamed up to win by 2 and &frac12; lengths. \u200b \u200b \u200b </p><p>Their trip in the Victoria resembled Sunday&rsquo;s King Corrie, which Hernandez admitted wasn&rsquo;t in the game plan. </p><p>&ldquo;He break a step slow. \u200b I thought I&rsquo;d be more forward, but he relaxed good. \u200b He do his thing you know, He don&rsquo;t get panicked between horses. He just went around and do his thing.&rdquo; \u200b </p><p>When reached after the race, 3-time King&rsquo;s Plate winning trainer Casse said his pupil was extremely professional, despite running on his wrong lead in the stretch. </p><p>&ldquo;I think this horse has distance limitations,&rdquo; said Casse. \u200b </p><p>&ldquo;He also really likes the grass. If I were to continue to the Plate, we might look at the Marine (Grade 3- June 27<sup>th</sup>). \u200b \u200b \u200b </p><p>Last September, Casson led in the Bet365 Grade 1-Summer Stakes before finishing 6<sup>th</sup>, beaten 3 and &frac34; lengths. He began his 2026 campaign at Gulfstream, launching a mild rally to finish 4<sup>th</sup>, in the Texas Glitter Stakes, a race scheduled for turf, but contested over the local synthetic surface. \u200b \u200b \u200b </p><p>Casson was the morning line 2-1 favourite. He went postward at odds of 3-5 and returned $3.50 for the win. \u200b </p><p>Fellow King&rsquo;s Plate nominees Reload Raleigh finished 3<sup>rd</sup>, while 2025 Coronation Futurity winner Fire and Wine finished 6<sup>th</sup> in the field of 7. \u200b \u200b \u200b \u200b \u200b </p><p><strong>Phil McSween, Woodbine </strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><div\n    id='gallery-2d8247bf-5104-4a9e-be73-334edfb54179'\n    class='release-content-gallery release-content-gallery--layout-contained'\n    data-component='chromatic-gallery,image-zoom-popup'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-padding='S'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-thumbnail-size='M'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-captions='data:application/json,true'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-photos='data:application/json;base64,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'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-force-full-width='data:application/json,true'\n    data-chromatic-gallery-expand-icon='data:text/plain;base64,PHN2ZyBjbGFzcz0iaWNvbiBpY29uLWV4cGFuZCI+CiAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8dXNlIHhsaW5rOmhyZWY9IiNpY29uLWV4cGFuZCI+PC91c2U+CiAgICAgICAgICAgIDwvc3ZnPg=='\n    data-image-zoom-popup-selector='.chromatic-gallery__photo'\n    data-image-zoom-popup-i18n='data:application/json;base64,eyJEb3dubG9hZCI6IkRvd25sb2FkIn0='\n    data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-view-event='Story Image View'\n    data-image-zoom-popup-tracking-download-event='Story Image Download'\n    data-image-zoom-popup-placement='content'\n></div><p>&nbsp;</p>",
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        "last_name": "Martin"
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