Casse and Castellano Target Consecutive Penn Mile Victories

Double Hall of Famer Mark Casse and jockey Javier Castellano are pursuing consecutive victories in the Grade 3, $400,000 Penn Mile scheduled for Friday, May 29, at Penn National, where they will saddle two-time stakes winner Alpyland. Casse holds the record with three Penn Mile wins – no other trainer has captured the race more than once – while Castellano has won it twice, matching Irad Ortiz Jr.’s total, as he prepares for his record seventh Penn Mile ride.

All-Stakes Turf Pick 4 Card

The Penn Mile card showcases an All-Stakes Turf Pick 4 featuring the $75,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap and $75,000 Lyphard Stakes, both restricted to Pennsylvania-bred horses, along with the $150,000 Penn Oaks and the Penn Mile. First race post time is 5 p.m. EDT.

Penn Mile Field and Favorites

Despite Casse and Castellano’s impressive track record in the event, morning-line favoritism goes to Honey Dutch (2-1) from Kentucky-based trainer Whit Beckman’s stable. Honey Dutch has placed in the top three in five consecutive stakes races, including a third-place finish in the Grade 1 American Turf on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. The Knicks Go colt boasts a perfect 6-for-6 in-the-money record on turf, accumulating $379,000 in earnings across his nine-race career. Beckman rose to national prominence this spring as the trainer of Kentucky Derby third-place finisher Ocelli, who went off as a long shot. Tyler Gaffalione will ride Honey Dutch.

Alpyland finished two lengths behind Honey Dutch in the American Turf but defeated that rival on New Year’s Day at Gulfstream Park in the Dania Beach Stakes. The 3-year-old Vekoma gelding has won four of nine career starts, with three victories coming on turf.

Teddy’s Rocket, from Miguel Clement’s turf-oriented barn, is the 3-1 third choice on the morning line. All three of his career starts have been on turf, including a maiden victory at Saratoga last summer. Manuel Franco, who won the 2018 Penn Mile aboard Hawkish, has the mount. Clement’s late father Christophe won the 2017 Penn Mile with Frostmourne.

Immortalised enters on a three-race winning streak, most recently capturing the Cutler Bay Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 28. The French-bred runs for Brendan Walsh, who won the 2024 Penn Mile with First World War. John Velazquez will ride.