October 30, 2015
An Interview With:
GARY BARBER
MARK E. CASSE
JEFF BEGG
MIKE AMBLER
THE MODERATOR:
Ladies and
gentlemen, the winner of the Breeders' Cup
Juvenile Fillies Turf was Catch A Glimpse. We're
joined by, from left to right, trainer Mark Casse,
owner Gary Barber and another one of the
co-owners, Jeff Begg of Windways Farm.
Congratulations to all three of you. An incredible
race.
And let's start with you, Mark. Maybe take
us through it in terms of especially at the break,
she comes out of there like a shot. You must have
been a little bit worried that they were going to duel
on the lead, but then he backs off.
MARK CASSE: I started worrying. I
apologize because I never remember anybody's
horse's names. I only remember the trainers.
When I was looking at the handicap in the race
and I came to Wesley Ward's horse, gave me
great concern.
I felt really confident coming into this race.
And then I saw, when I was looking at that filly, I
said oh, boy. So we talked about it, and our plan
was to try to back off of her, either outbreak her
and beat her to the first turn or, if she outbroke us,
let her go and sit behind. It didn't really -- we were
trying to take back, and I was a little concerned.
But I tell you what, when they went down
the back side and we were able to get outside, I
felt pretty good. Because this is a good filly. She's
a good filly.
THE MODERATOR:
I would say so.
Mr. Barber, how about you, just in terms of
especially watching what looked like perhaps a
pace duel out of the gate, but then watching Flo
back off and your thoughts early in the race.
GARY BARBER: Pretty much the same
what Mark said. We are worried about the 5 horse
going and getting into a bit of a suicide duel. But
Flo did a masterful job of just pulling back and then
getting to the outside.
Once she got into a comfortable stride on
the outside, the time, I think was 24 and 2. It was
reasonable time. And when we got to the four turn
and coming home, I felt really good, and she got to
the lead. When she's on the lead, she's tough.
THE MODERATOR: Mark, now maybe
just talk about coming into this race, you seemed
very confident coming off of the win at Woodbine.
MARK CASSE: Not many people listened
to me, but I would say this filly's a good filly. I
thought when she won the Natalma prep, she was
much better than it looked. We've won the
Natalma, I think, seven times. And I told a few
people, I said, this is the best Natalma winner that
I've ever had.
And, you know, I thought we had a good
shot. Like I said, my only concern was Wesley
Ward's filly. But it was exciting. I have to -- Jeff
and Mike bought her, and I have to say, Gary has
been one of my biggest supporters.
If I call Gary with an idea about buying a
horse, he usually says yes and that's how this
group came together. And it's nice when you
can -- when people put that much confidence in
you and you're able to deliver. So it was very
gratifying.
THE MODERATOR: Maybe from Jeff and
Michael, we can hear a little bit more about who
picked her out at Keeneland last year and how you
came to own this filly.
JEFF BEGG: I bought the filly last year at
Keeneland, and it was funny, because actually I
went to look at another filly at a consignment, and
this filly was standing outside. I thought, whoa,
that filly looks pretty sharp. I looked at the page.
She was half sister to a horse called Old Forester,
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who stands in Canada, a very fast horse.
I looked at her again. The second day, I
went back and pulled her out with the other horse.
Every day I looked at her, I liked her more. She
wasn't a big horse, didn't have tons of bone, but
she was very, very athletic, looked very quick.
And I like fillies with a little pedigree, and I
really thought her whole card would probably be
the turf with the City Zip and the Irish River on the
dam side.
So I bought her, and Mike has been a
client of mine for a number of years, and he's
always game to go in and so he picked up a third
and actually, we had her kind of pegged to go to a
two-year-old sale with a couple other fillies. Every
time I watched them train in Ocala, I liked them
better and better. I called Mark and said, I want
you to come look at some fillies. He came out and
watched all three train and he goes, I like them. I
said if you can get somebody to buy a third, you
can take them and train them.
MARK CASSE: And I said I know just the
guy
[Laughter].
JEFF BEGG: The plan changed a few
times, but the partnership came out and the
worked out, to say the least.
THE MODERATOR: Mike, we would like
to hear from you. Talk about watching the filly
progress over the last few months, getting better
and better.
MIKE AMBLER: It's a complete surprise to
be honest. We were discouraged when she ran in
the slop at Saratoga and Mark brought her up
here, up to Canada. That's where the good news
started. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even there for
the Natalma because I was in Vancouver for my
son's wedding. I was watching it at Hastings and
we kind of woke up the old guys that were sleeping
around the room at the time. And here we are.
What a great thrill.
THE MODERATOR: Very good. Let me
check and see if there are questions in the briefing
room.
Q. Mr. Casse, was this race a long-term
target or an afterthought after the horse started
getting better?
MARK CASSE: As I said to somebody
yesterday, this game is about dreams. So when
you buy a horse, the dream is always the
Breeders' Cup, the Kentucky Derby, those races.
So yes, she showed a lot. We had her
here this spring and she was -- she showed she
was a little better than average. That's why she
ended up at Saratoga. But when did I really think
we could win the Breeders' Cup? After she was so
impressive in the Natalma.
I hadn't really given much thought about
that. I'm a guy that kind of like goes from one race
to the other. Sometimes I get along, but I wanted
her to show me she was that good.
THE MODERATOR:
Mark and Gary,
you've both been well represented in the Breeders'
Cup over the years. How does it feel to get the
win?
MARK CASSE: It took me -- us a long
time to win the Queen's Plate and we were lucky to
win it. Gary and I with Lexi Lou. And then for this,
we almost got it -GARY BARBER: With Laugh Track.
MARK CASSE:
With Laugh Track a
couple years ago.
GARY BARBER: Another stride.
MARK CASSE: Watch out. We're just
getting started now.
GARY BARBER: Exactly.
THE MODERATOR: Gary, anything to
add to that?
GARY BARBER: No. I think Mark's right.
It's a dream for me, it's my first Breeders' Cup as
well. It was my first Queen's Plate with Mark and
it's my first Breeders' Cup. Not only is he a great
trainer, he's my lucky trainer.
Q. Gary or anybody, but, Gary, given
your involvement with Spyglass in the movie
industry, this horse, if he's turned in the other
direction by the barn, you might not have. I
mean, is this a movie you would buy and what
kind of a movie would it be?
GARY BARBER: I got to separate my
heart from my brain a little bit when it comes to
movies. I struggle to make Sea Biscuit because I
kept saying to myself, am I going with my heart
instead of the logic. Eventually, the script was so
good, decided to invest in Sea Biscuit. But this is a
storybook ending, a great script, but I think I'll
leave it to the race track.
THE MODERATOR: Mark, what will be
the targets from here?
MARK CASSE: A rest for all of us. I'll talk
to these guys. But I would say she'll go to Ocala
for a little while and get a little bit of a break and
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then figure out where we go from there.
THE MODERATOR:
Very good.
Gentlemen, congratulations. Impressive effort and
we appreciate the time.
MARK CASSE: Hope to see you again
tomorrow.
GARY BARBER: Me too.
THE MODERATOR: Catch A Glimpse is
the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
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