The Mark Casse trainee Olympic Runner was so impressive on Saturday August 5th that it looked like his days aren't quite over yet. Back in January of this year, you could have had him for some chump change of $50,000 in a claiming race at Gulfstream Park in which he ran second.
With the racing game, it is the opportunity and a bit of luck in order to conquer and Mark Casse has mastered that game.
How did we get here with this promising runner owned by Gary Barber?
After all, a few years back Olympic Runner was fourth in the 2020 grade one Ricoh Woodbine mile. He did manage to win the Grade 2 King Edward stakes at Woodbine in 2021 but it looked like the talented runner was stuck between a rock and a hard place in races to be entered.
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| Olympic Runner - photo by Michael Burns |
Colonial Downs is a very tough track but Mark Casse is very good at what he does also and that is finding spots for his runners. Surprisingly, Olympic runner did not go off as a favorite for this $90,000 optional claiming race but once the race got going he showed every ounce of class that he developed over the years and won by three lengths. Antonio Gallardo was onboard for the trip and he himself is becoming quite busy being back in the States on a regular basis.
Perhaps Olympic Runner may fall into someone else's hands but for now, I think he will continue to surprise us when we least expect it.
derek.barntrack@gmail.com
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