Cass Haese - Trainer/breeder of pacers

shauntai · March 2018

Hi all,
My name is Kylie and I am looking for anyone who knew Cass Haese, the pacing trainer/breeder. She was my Grandmother and I am interested in finding out about her career, particularly how the trotting world perceived her, her noteworthy achievements as a trainer/breeder/owner. Anything of particular interest surrounding her career. I know very little, and because her and my grandfather have both passed away it is difficult for me to find any information about this.

Was she considered successful? Did she train any horses that broke records or does she hold any records to this day? Was she respected? Was she inspirational? Are female trainers rare? And if so, what made her break into a male dominated field do you think?

Thanks in advance, any piece of information small or detailed will be greatly appreciated. I feel like the horse/trotting world was not known by us, her family, and it is a huge part of her and her life that is missing without knowing it about her.

Kind regards,
Kylie

Ridersonthestorm33 · March 2018

^^ Am sure you will get some terrific feedback Kylie from some very knowledgeable members on this pacing site.

PackedMetalPanda · March 2018

She trained many winners and one of her best was a horse my brother drove a fair bit called Scanio. Alfa Dyna, Alfa Freeway were hers too I’m pretty sure and later on metro winner with a horse called Motubuchi. The Alfa horses were talented juveniles from the stories I have heard. It was before my time and as mentioned above you will get some good replies. She was very well respected horsewoman in the Peel region and WA as a whole.

VillageKid · March 2018

Cass Haese was a very good trainer Kylie.
Alfa Freeway was a very good mare for her and Keith? in the mid 80s whilst Alfa Dyna was another good quality filly early 90s both driven by Shane or Kim Young from memory.
Scanio won many races on his way to fast class racing in the mid-late 90s.
Off the top of my head I’m sure she had a few others that were better than average as well.

Ridersonthestorm33 · March 2018

Me too VK Can recall Scanio quite well winning in town and some country cups. Was a very good horse.

Those Alfa horses were very popular types now come to think of it. Alfa Freeway may have had a real fast finishing run. Alfa Dyna sure she won a big race when young too.

Ridersonthestorm33 · March 2018

Can just see Alfa Freeway storming home in a big juvenile race one night - perhaps a certainty beaten. In the memory and could be wrong here but possibly black and white colours and Scanio too.

VillageKid · March 2018

She definitely had black and white colours Riders.
And I can also recall the Alfa horses storming home with a withering finishing burst.

Ridersonthestorm33 · March 2018

Yes the black and white colours especially on Alfa Freeway and Scanio stand out for me. It's funny how the memory works, thought Scanio black and white and when saw the Alfa Freeway name pop up that confirmed because can picture Alfa flying home in the black and white.

Yet can't picture Alfa Dyna in the colours but must have been. Definetly recall Motubuchi and backing but the old memory she ain't what she use to be - thinking possibly a horse that really improved.

Ridersonthestorm33 · March 2018

The other thing with the Alfa horses they were very popular with my ilk - the punters. They would often be short in the betting, they were very smart.

That's only a little info... JJ, Curmudgeon and STG etc. will have much more for you.

squid69 · March 2018

I knew Cass through a good friend. I took a special interest in Scanio. Just below the best of his age as a three year old but rose to a high level as a Four year old. I have a “Seasons of Glory” video which John Hunt produced, which Scanio features in. Cass lost a son, or maybe two sons in a car accident. Cass took Scanio to Harvey on the Saturday night following that accident and he won the Cup. A very poignant time that was.

shauntai · March 2018

squid69 said:
I knew Cass through a good friend. I took a special interest in Scanio. Just below the best of his age as a three year old but rose to a high level as a Four year old. I have a “Seasons of Glory” video which John Hunt produced, which Scanio features in. Cass lost a son, or maybe two sons in a car accident. Cass took Scanio to Harvey on the Saturday night following that accident and he won the Cup. A very poignant time that was.

My Dad was one of the sons that died in the car accident, and just before Grandma retired she gave me the Cup trophy from that win. I would love to see a copy of that video!

curmudgeon · March 2018

Kylie

Your grandmother Cass Haese was an extremely successful breeder/owner /trainer at a time that it was relatively unfashionable for women to have horses contesting major races against full time stables.

Nearly all her horses raced in the name of KD & CI Haese and she trained at Lake Clifton from memory....a major lucerne growing area or as the Americans call it...Alfalfa.....hence the prefix Alfa in the names of some of her horses.

I think her involvement all stemmed from a mare called Dynamic Image...the mother of Alfa Freeway...that she and her husband obtained from the Weir family's Adios Stud in Armadale. I think Jim Schrader may have trained her from memory but not absolutely sure.( JJ...this is your forte) The Pinjarra twins Kim and Shane Young drove most of her horses...predominantly Shane I think although time may have blurred my recollection.

At her most prominent she was a force to be reckoned with with a number of her horses being winners of quality metropolitan and country races.

I think her husbands name was Kim...you would know that of course.....and he may have pre deceased her quite significantly. Also there was the tragedy of losing her two sons in a traffic accident which would have been unbearable I should imagine. I am sure Shane Young could background you about Cass and her involvement......i will send you his phone number if you would like it. To answer your questions...yes she was respected and yes she was very good at what she did with the horses.Her life from an outsiders perspective seemed to encompass great highs and tragic lows. You can be very proud to have Cass Haese as a grandmother.

KTQ · March 2018

Motobuchi! Of course! That was the one I couldn't remember.
126 starts 19 wins. 29 places. $142k. He raced at GP on a Friday every week. Actually beat Haveago (who you'll see mentioned I posted on the other forum beat Scanio to one of the big races)

Curmudgeon, Cass' husband was Keith.
Dyna won the Oaks and Freeway won some big race I recall from the sales catalogues years ago. org.au doesn't list her races

KTQ · March 2018

Found it!!!

ALFA FREEWAY (M) p,2,2:01; 1:57.9 (Captain Hook USA). 23 wins, 2 thru 5, 15 at Perth; $102,636. At 2, winner WA Triple Crown. At 3, winner WA Country Derby Gr.3, Bunbury Bracelet, consolation WA Derby, heat WA Oaks, second in SW Oaks. At 4, winner WA Ladyship Gr.3; second in Harvey 4YO Classic, WA Empress, etc. As aged, winner WA Breeders S. Gr.3 , Darkan Cup; second in WA Mares Sprint. Dam of ELIZA(M) p,1:58; grandam of JASPER FREEWAY p,1:56.3 ($78,611), ELIZA GRACE (M) p,1:55.7 ($61,588).

My parents bought Eliza off Cass. She was such a lovely horse. Black and shiny. Jasper Freeway was brilliant but broke down twice. Eliza Grace was a giant mare and she knew it (I'd say around 17hh. I remember looking UP at her whither. With normal horses I could kind of see over their back but with her, it was like standing next to a basketballer - she used to drag me around the yard. Had to paddock work her because stables were too small for her. Would always eat a mouthful of food. Have a mouthful of water. Mouthful of food. Mouthful of water and would absolutely fill her water bucket with food. Got driven terribly a couple times at GP by a cowboy driver who decided to ignore directions - would have finished her career with at least 1 more GP win if not for that fool. Strong but had small niggles.

Such a brilliant bloodline. Cass was great. What a career she had - what a wonderful and successful woman.

savethegame · March 2018

Never actually met the lady but sure do remember her horses that have been mentioned above by others ..Some of her better horses, the likes of scanio won 22 races 29 places with stakes of 208k

alfa dyna won group 1 oaks in march 1992. in a three month period from 31 dec 91, to 27march 92 when the group 1 oaks was run alfa dyna had a purple patch of form of 8 starts for 6wins 1 second. .....Just on the breeding side my belief her good broodmare travis arania achieved against the odds first as a racehorse..being probably being near on the best daughter.. of her father scottish arania then what she achieved as mother of some decent horses, when the stallions weren't headline horses,... That's Jay Jay department travis arania was the mother of horses scanio , alfa dyna, bold ruler as well who won 12 races for g.taylor. .Will look up some more stuff in regards your nans horses in the next few days..

Ridersonthestorm33 · March 2018

Travis is a name can recollect on the breeding side...possibly a Bintravis have heard of somewhere in the line. Don't know how good it was but recall the name. There were a lot of horses with Adios, Wrack, Oro, Capri, Eden in there names and Travis was another name associate in and around that era.

Markovina · March 2018

Wheres Jay Jay at a wedding or something - i thought he would be all over this thread

Just on Scanio - testing my memory a bit - was it a bit of a death seat horse - a bit of giant killer - could mix its form a bit in open company - something is telling me ( might be completely wrong ) that it won a couple of races at big odds - knocking off some smart pacers

As for Cass Haese - i think now retired eastern states form analyst Bill Hutchison had a good saying when previewing a particular race - hed say - look this trainer doesnt have bad horses ( low grade ) - i think that would be fair to say that about her

It helps of course - breeding your own - if youve got a great broodmare - look at the Lees or Cravens in Terang - theve got all those Jilliby horses - its like a production line of top horses - theres not too many duds in those Jillibys

Ridersonthestorm33 · March 2018

Very similar recollection of Scanio to a tee. A memory of him either winning a good race by a nose or going down a nose at around the big 50/1 odds and possibly on a few occasions.

May have been a horse that lost a little bit of form, before hitting his straps again.

VillageKid · March 2018

JJ might well be in transit heading to the yearling sales on today at Belmont Marko.

savethegame · March 2018

RIDERS Without the starting price to confirm. just quickly going through his form he did some giant killing work, on horses like the superstar at the time salinger he beat him two starts after salinger had won the golden nugget it was in a pacing cup prelude some very nice horses were in the field allwoods chief , rudlan, flashing star, tallowwood purist,, hijack harry, summer knight , may have been 50s that night..

gee he had a purple patch as well won 6 in a row then 2 seconds and 2 more wins in a ten start period, culminating in winning the four year old sires final april 1995. another time he beat tabaret flashing star they ran the last half in 55.5 .... need more in depth work to nail the times he started at big prices think your right riders more than once..

JayJay · March 2018

No wedding Marko, spend more time at Boot Hill than in wedding parlours these days.

Cass (I think her first name was actually Colleen?) and Keith Haese bred literally 100's of horses and it has been pretty well covered already by others but she has a very significant record.

Won heaps of juvenile classics stemming from 2 foundation mares (sisters) in Travis Arania and Dynamic Image, who were both Adios Stud/Bob Weir bred mares from the great Bintravis line.

Classic wins include the 2yo Gold Bracelet with Alfa Triumph 1985 and Gay Adventure 1987, starting a long tradition of breeding to not necessarily high profile stallions, both being by Jun Jun Ni. The Haese's were not afraid to try their hand at some fairly obscure sires in a seemingly "scatter gun" approach but whatever their thinking, it worked with great results. Names like Jun Jun Ni, Maple Lanes Strike, Bret's Courage, Afella Rainbow, Massie, The Sunbird Hanover, WRH USA, Ringleader, Explorador etc were some of the stallions they patronised.
They won the Country Derby with Alfa Freeway 1985 and Alfa Dyna 1992, the Oaks with Alfa Dyna 1992, the Breeders Stakes with Alfa Freeway 1987, the Bunbury Cup 1995 and Memorial Day Stakes 1996 with Scanio and many other features.
Travis Arania was the primary producer for them, all winners unless stated otherwise ...1981 Alfa Triumph, who produced Alfa Raphael, Alfa Carrera and Daimler (car theme emerging?), 1983 Alfa Genie (unraced) who produced Mustang Express , 1984 Bold Ruler 12 wins for Graham Taylor as mentioned earlier, 1984 Exstremo (unraced who produced Rossies Soveriegn and Dylans Dignity, 1986 Alfa Courageous who has gone on to be a great producer for the Youngs with Roadless Traveled, Courageous Ned etc, 1987 the very well performed Alfa Dyna who has produced Klyna, Shika and Spanish Assassin, 1989 the tough as teak Scanio who accumulated 22 wins, 1997 Alfa Grant and finally, the aptly named 1999 Travies Last.
Dynamic Image, also by Scottish Arania from Oro Travis (a dam of 10 winners including Danni Hook)), struck gold with her first foal 1980 Alfa Freeway with her 23 wins, 1984 Alfa Fiero 7 wins and 1984 Alfa Deera (by San Simeon) who was the dam of the very well performed Motobuchi. At Stud, Alfa Freeway produced both Ladolce 4 wins and Eliza 4 wins which as KTQ outlines above, ended up with the Howlett's for Eliza Grace 7 wins and the very handy Jasper Freeway 11 wins.
That is just a snapshot of the work of the Haese's and the enduring contribution made on the breeding side of things, never mind the skill involved in training and producing the horses to race at their best. Yep, I'd be hugely proud of your Grandma Shauntai, a massive and sadly largely ignored contribution to the industry on many fronts especialy breaking down traditional barriers at the Trots. There have been a number of glass ceiling breakers over the years going way way to Hilda Thomas but Cass Haese right up there with them all.

Chariotsonfire · March 2018

Just another bit of trivia shauntai your Great Aunt Audrey (Cass' sister) ran a very nice restaurant in Bunbury during that era.

I think it was called "The Eagle".

curmudgeon · March 2018

Mark Lee of Pinjarra bought lot 484....a Jet Laag x Alba Carta colt - a direct descendant of Dynamic Image at todays APG sale in Perth. $5500 .

shauntai · March 2018

curmudgeon said:
Kylie
Your grandmother Cass Haese was an extremely successful breeder/owner /trainer at a time that it was relatively unfashionable for women to have horses contesting major races against full time stables.
Nearly all her horses raced in the name of KD & CI Haese and she trained at Lake Clifton from memory....a major lucerne growing area or as the Americans call it...Alfalfa.....hence the prefix Alfa in the names of some of her horses.
I think her involvement all stemmed from a mare called Dynamic Image...the mother of Alfa Freeway...that she and her husband obtained from the Weir family's Adios Stud in Armadale. I think Jim Schrader may have trained her from memory but not absolutely sure.( JJ...this is your forte) The Pinjarra twins Kim and Shane Young drove most of her horses...predominantly Shane I think although time may have blurred my recollection.
At her most prominent she was a force to be reckoned with with a number of her horses being winners of quality metropolitan and country races.
I think her husbands name was Kim...you would know that of course.....and he may have pre deceased her quite significantly. Also there was the tragedy of losing her two sons in a traffic accident which would have been unbearable I should imagine. I am sure Shane Young could background you about Cass and her involvement......i will send you his phone number if you would like it. To answer your questions...yes she was respected and yes she was very good at what she did with the horses.Her life from an outsiders perspective seemed to encompass great highs and tragic lows. You can be very proud to have Cass Haese as a grandmother.

Yes, I woud like Shane Young's phone number please :)

shauntai · March 2018

Are any of the bloodline currently racing? I would love to go to the trots to see them.

squid69 · March 2018

Chariotsonfire said:
Just another bit of trivia shauntai your Great Aunt Audrey (Cass' sister) ran a very nice restaurant in Bunbury during that era.

I think it was called "The Eagle".

That was the “Eagle Towers” on Spencer Street just behind Hands Oval. I lived in the units next door to the restaurant.

Chariotsonfire said:
Just another bit of trivia shauntai your Great Aunt Audrey (Cass' sister) ran a very nice restaurant in Bunbury during that era.

I think it was called "The Eagle".

OnTheBridle · March 2018

I might add that the ‘Alfa’ prefix lives on today, with Alfa Queen still racing for Shane Young.

VillageKid · March 2018

OnTheBridle said:
I might add that the ‘Alfa’ prefix lives on today, with Alfa Queen still racing for Shane Young.

She raced tonight at GP.

curmudgeon · March 2018

Check your inbox for that number Shauntai

shauntai · March 2018

Wow fantastic. Thank you so much everyone. And I just sent you a reply thanks curmudgeon. I am so glad that I am able to follow the blood line. And so much information. I knew Grandma was a phenomenal woman, but this has blown me away. I am glad I reached out to you guys. Such a great community, I can see why Grandma and Pa loved it so much. Thank you all so much for taking the time to answer.

staum74 · August 2019

Shika is my grumpy old man living out his days
:)

G'day Punter!

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