Mark Casse has already tasted Royal Ascot success and he could be back for more after the appropriately named Bullet struck a telling late blow in the $106,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies Stakes.
Casse saddled Tepin to land the Queen Anne Stakes at the Royal meeting in 2016 and has a ticket to the UK ready paid for after his daughter of War Front earned an automatic berth in one of the six juvenile races at the summer showpiece in the valuable Gulfstream qualifier.
Making her first start in the five-furlong event, Bullet was slowly away and still had the whole field to pass entering the home straight before surging home to land the first prize with a degree of ease.
“You really can’t print what I was thinking after the start,” Casse told www.drf.com.
“She’s been kind of on the ‘A’ team for us from the beginning. She’s not a real big filly, she’s just beautiful, and we sent her down there kind of thinking about this race. And for her to overcome such adversity in her first start speaks volumes for her.”
She could now try to replicate the exploits of Crimson Advocate who claimed this race before landing the Queen Mary Stakes at the Royal meeting.
Casse added: “I’ve been fortunate enough to win at Royal Ascot and it’s really quite a thing. We’ll discuss all the pros and cons about making the trip, but it would be great to go back again.”
Bullet was ridden to victory by Emisael Jaramillo who was also in the saddle aboard Jose D’Angelo’s Gabaldon in the other Ascot qualifying event on the card, the $120,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Stakes.
D’Angelo is also eyeing a cross-channel trip to the UK and said: “He always showed he was very professional from the first time.
“I was looking for a horse to try to go to Royal Ascot and he was the one that was ready. So I tried him on grass to see if he could handle it. Chester Bishop, one of the owners, said he checked his pedigree and told me he can handle it. And he was right.”
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