Casse, Contreras Close In On New Records

Photos: WEG / Michael Burns Photography

Trainer Mark Casse came so close to setting a new Woodbine training record last season. This season, it appears it's just a matter of time before it's his. Both Casse and jockey Luis Contreras are on pace to set new trainer and jockey records for victories in one season in 2011.

Casse won 87 races in 2010 at Woodbine, falling just two wins shy of a 15-year record held by the late Frank Passero Jr. Passero Jr. set the Woodbine training record in 1995 after winning 89 races.

Going into the final weekend of the 2010 meet, Casse needed six victories to surpass Passero Jr.'s record, but was only able to record three wins in 15 starts over the last three days of the meet. Casse finished the meet with 87 wins from 572 starts (15%) and over $4.7 million in purse earnings.

At just over the halfway point in the 2011 meet (Sunday marked the 86th day of Woodbine's 167-day meet), Casse has already recorded 67 victories in 293 starts (23%) and his horses have earned over $3.9 million.

Contreras, like Casse, is well on his way to chasing his own record. Contreras is looking to surpass Mickey Walls' record of 221 wins by a jockey at Woodbine, set in 1991. Last season, Contreras was only allowed to ride for American owners for a good portion of the season. Once he was allowed to ride for all owners at Woodbine, Contreras' win rate picked up, and he finished the meet with 127 victories in 675 starts (19%) and over $5.2 million in purse earnings.

In 2011, Contreras has had a memorable season already, and it's only the halfway point. Contreras leads all jockeys at Woodbine with 126 victories from 576 starts (22%), just one victory less than he had all of last year. Contreras has also won every major race for Canadian-bred three-year-olds this season, including the Woodbine Oaks, Queen's Plate, Prince of Wales Stakes and Breeders' Stakes. Those four races have gone a long way in helping Contreras secure over $7.3 million in purse earnings so far in 2011.

Casse and Contreras are both on pace to shatter the existing records. Casse has averaged 0.78 wins per day over the first 86 days of the Woodbine meet. If he continued at his same pace for the remainder of the season (81 race days), Casse would win 63 more races this year, and finish with an incredible 131 wins for the meet, 42 more than the current record. If Casse's pace were to continue at its current rate, he would earn his 90th victory of the season and break Passero Jr.'s record on September 18th.

Although Contreras has a little more ground to make up on his quest to reach 221 victories, he is also on pace to break the record with plenty of room to spare. Contreras has averaged 1.48 wins per race day in 2011 and would record 119 more victories in the remaining 81 race days at that same pace. Contreras would finish the season with 245 wins and would break the record on November 13th. The new record would be 24 more victories than the current record.

The amazing thing about the achievements of these two talented individuals is the significant increase in each of their win percentages in 2011. Casse has increased his winning percentage from 15% in 2010 to 23% in 2011. The low win percentage may have been a reason why Casse lost out on the Sovereign Award last season to Roger Attfied, despite winning far more races than any other trainer on the grounds.

Contreras' win percentage has not seen a dramatic increase like Casse's, but it has also broken the 20% barrier in 2011. Contreras finished 2010 winning 19% of his starts, but is now clicking three percentage points higher at 22% in 2011.

It has been a great season for these two individuals already, and it could get even better for the pair should they go on to break the records they are on pace for in the second half of Woodbine's 2011 meet. After the remarkable achievements this season, the pair look to be odds-on favourites to win Sovereign Awards in their respective divisions.

Posted in: Woodbine