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Play the Music Chases Third Straight Graded-Stakes Win in Grade 3 Hendrie at Woodbine
(Woodbine Racetrack, June 30, 2024) – Play the Music, the 4-year-old filly trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, will look to secure her third consecutive graded-stakes victory when she faces 11 rivals in Saturday’s Grade 3, $98,979 Hendrie Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack.
Owned by Glassman Racing, Play the Music comes into the 6 1/2-furlong main track event for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, off back-to-back stakes triumphs in the Grade 3 Whimsical and the Grade 3 Royal North.
“They were two excellent efforts,” said Casse, who is tied for second in North American stakes wins this season with 27. “It showed her versatility in being able to perform at a high level on two different surfaces.”
After breaking her maiden impressively at Kentucky Downs last September, Play the Music was set to contest the Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland, a Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ event, but missed out due to an overfilled field. She rebounded from a poor effort in the Glorious Song Stakes at Woodbine last November to post one win and a pair of third-place finishes at Gulfstream Park earlier this year before capturing the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in February.
“I didn’t think they could beat her, and she ran so well that day,” Casse praised.
The $300,000 2-year-old purchase, bred in Kentucky by Laura McKinney, has compiled a 13: 6-1-3 record with $401,037 in career earnings.
Casse, who is no stranger to success in the Hendrie having won the race four times previously, believes Play the Music‘s versatility could be her biggest asset.
“If you believe (jockey) Patrick Husbands, he will tell you all-weather,” Casse said with a laugh. “But I’m not sure if that is the case. She looks pretty darn good to me on either surface.”
With 11 talented rivals, including Gal in a Rush, Ro Town, and Tequilera, set to challenge her, Play the Music will look to continue her string of graded-stakes triumphs in Saturday’s Hendrie Stakes at Woodbine.
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