Mark Casse barn eyes Penn Mile repeat
Slated to saddle Penn Mile, Penn Oaks contenders Friday
The Biz
May 27, 2026
Trainer Mark Casse will be hoping on Friday to make the most of one of his infrequent visits to Penn National Race Course — and in the process, defend his Grade 3 Penn Mile title.
The Hall of Famer, who saddled Dream On to a Penn Mile win last year, is slated to send out Alpyland in the Penn Mile and Final Accord in the Penn Oaks, and though neither is favored, both are 5-2 on the morning line.
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Alpyland enters the $400,000 Penn Mile off a credible fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 American Turf on Kentucky Derby day, beaten six lengths after racing prominently throughout. Prior to that effort, the son of Vekoma had won Tampa Bay Downs’ Columbia Stakes and captured Gulfstream Park’s Dania Beach Stakes in sharp style. His consistency on grass has been a hallmark; he owns four wins from seven turf starts and has never finished worse than fourth on the lawn.
“That was a very nice effort from him. He did that pretty nicely,” Casse said following the Columbia. “He’s a horse that we liked a lot early on and he’s turned out to be nice. It’s just taken him a while to get his act together, but he’s a pretty good turf horse now.”
The gelding has already bankrolled more than $300,000. With veteran rider Javier Castellano aboard, Alpyland figures to settle just behind the speed in a field with some pace.
The morning line favorite is Honey Dutch, trained by Whit Beckman. The gray son of Knicks Go has kept top company this season, finishing second behind Alpyland in the Dania Beach Stakes, second in the Transylvania (G3), and most recently third in the American Turf (G1). Honey Dutch has shown blazing early speed in several starts and could find himself embroiled in another contentious pace battle Friday.
Another major contender is Immortalised, a French-bred colt from the barn of Brendan Walsh. The Romanised colt enters on a three-race winning streak, including the Cutler Bay Stakes at Gulfstream.
Trainer Miguel Clement will send out Teddy’s Rocket, who was fourth in last year’s Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine and makes his second start of the season after a troubled trip in Aqueduct’s Woodhaven Stakes. He is 3-1 on the morning line and will have Manny Franco in the irons.
Locally, Classic Nofty will try to continue his rise after a sharp allowance victory over older state-breds on the Penn turf course earlier this month. Trained by Phil Schoenthal, the Pennsylvania-bred rallied smartly through traffic that evening and appears to relish the local footing.
Casse, Clement, and Walsh also are scheduled to be represented in the $150,000 Penn Oaks for three-year-old fillies one race prior.
Clement is slated to saddled the 9-5 morning line favorite in Bandiagara. The French-bred filly from the Clement barn owns stakes experience overseas and makes her North American debut Friday after training recently at Saratoga.
Casse’s Final Accord brings perhaps the flashiest résumé into the Penn Oaks. The daughter of War of Will, whom Casse trained to a win in the 2019 Preakness, won last fall’s Grade 3 Matron Stakes at Aqueduct and later contested the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. She returned from a six-month layoff with a closing fourth in Churchill Downs’ Grade 3 Mamzelle and stretches back out to a mile, a move that should suit her late-running style.
Walsh also sends out Smexy (6-1), an Irish import who has competed in Group company overseas and exits a respectable fifth in the Sanibel Island Stakes. John Velazquez will ride.
George Arnold’s Call On Me (5-1) also merits strong consideration after winning impressively at Keeneland before finishing a close third against allowance company at Churchill. Vekoma View exits a fourth-place finish in Gulfstream’s Sanibel Island Stakes, while Sutura has yet to win but has hit the board in all four starts and owns enough tactical speed to make her dangerous.
The Penn Oaks is scheduled as race five with a 7:12 p.m. first post, while the Penn Mile goes as race six at 7:51 p.m. Friday night at Penn National Race Course.
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