Casse aces: Paramount Prince and Lucky Guest ready for Grade 3 Seagram Cup test

TORONTO, July 29, 2026 – Mark Casse trainees Paramount Prince and Lucky Guest will take on seven rivals in the $175,000 Seagram Cup (G3), a 1 1/16-mile main track event for 3-year-olds and up, Saturday at Woodbine. ​ ​

Multiple graded stakes winner and 2023 King’s Plate victor Paramount Prince, who took the 2024 edition of the Seagram Cup, will chase his ninth career score in his second consecutive Grade 3 appearance.

The dual Sovereign Award recipient (2024 Champion Older Dirt Male and 2023 Champion Three-Year-Old Colt) finished second, a neck back, in the 1 1/8-mile Dominion Day Stakes (G3) on June 27.

“He showed a lot of courage in his last race, which was nice to see,” said Casse. “It’s what we have come to expect from him – an honest, hard-trying effort.”

Owned by Gary Barber and Mike Langlois, Paramount Prince won his 2-year-old debut in a maiden optional claiming 6-furlong race over the Woodbine main track on Nov. 12, 2022.

After a 3-year-old campaign highlighted by his Plate triumph, he notched his first graded stakes victory in the 2024 Dominion Day Stakes. One race later, he took top prize in the Seagram Cup.

The 6-year-old son of Society’s Chairman out of the Platinum Steel mare Eddington is 8-3-7 from 23 starts, accompanied by $1,029,563 in purse earnings.

“He loves what he does,” said Casse, who has won a record-tying four Seagram Cups. “As we know, he has one style of running. He goes out there and puts everything into it. Every now and then, somebody will go and run with him and that ends up to their demise, and sometimes it is his demise as well.”

Bred in Ontario by Ericka Rusnak, Paramount Prince was a $21,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2021 CTHS sale. ​

“He’s just a solid competitor and an amazing horse,” said Casse, who is closing in on 26,000 career starters.

Ivan “Billy” Forde is the groom.

Lucky Guest, a 4-year-old son of Yoshida (JPN) out of the Kitten’s Joy mare Gold Medal Kitten, will test the graded stakes ranks for the first time.

Owned by G.G. Racing Stables, the dark bay was supplemented to the race, which will mark just the eighth career start for the gelding.

“He is an extremely talented horse,” praised Casse. “I think Lucky Guest was a King’s Plate horse and unfortunately, he got hurt. We’ve always liked him. He’s a big, strong boy. I don’t know if we have really got to his strengths yet because he has had a career of starting and stopping. If we could get to a point where we could get five or six races in a row, I think the sky is the limit for him.”

Bred in Ontario by Tara Horse Farm Inc., Lucky Guest is riding a two-race win streak ahead of the Seagram Cup.

After a fourth to kick off his 2026 campaign, he was a dominant 5 ¾-length winner in a 1 1/16-mile optional claimer on May 31 and followed it up with a sharp 1 ¼-length score in an allowance optional claimer at 1 1/8 miles on July 4.

Third in his debut on June 9, 2024, Lucky Guest broke his maiden in his return to racing 11 months later, winning the 6-furlong maiden special weight dash by three lengths.

Lucky Guest was a $35,000 (CDN) purchase at the 2023 CTHS Premier Yearling Sale.

Gareth Daniels is the groom.

Recent works: Paramount Prince covered 4 furlongs in :49.80 over the Woodbine main track on July 24.

“He went good that day, just his typical self,” said Casse. “We were not asking him for much, which a week out of the race is what we were looking for. It was good, exactly what we wanted.”

On July 22, Lucky Guest breezed 4 panels on the Woodbine main track in :49.20.

“It was the same type of work as Paramount Prince, in terms of what we were looking for ahead of the race,” said Casse. “We just wanted something that would set him up well for the race and that’s what we had.” ​ ​ ​

Fast Facts: Sandy Hawley and Patrick Husbands share the record for most Seagram Cup wins (seven). He’s A Smoothie won consecutive runnings of the race, in 1966-67. Bridle Path also achieved the feat, in 1982-83. Others to win back-to-back editions include One For Rose, Gouldings Green and Mr Ritz (GB). Easy Street won the first running of the Seagram Cup in 1903.

Wagering menu for Seagram Cup: Includes Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / 0.20 Superfecta / $1 Swinger

Field for the $175,000 Seagram Cup (G3)

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer ​ ​

1 – Sedburys Ghost – Austin Adams – Barb Minshall

2 – Runaway Again – Ryan Munger – Sid Attard

3 – Rapid Test – Sahin Civaci – Catherine Day Phillips

4 – War Court (S) – Keveh Nicholls – Ron Sadler

5 – Mansetti – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard

6 – Notorious Gangster – Rafael Hernandez – Josie Carroll

7 – Twin City – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Stuart Simon

8 – Lucky Guest (S) – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse

9 – Paramount Prince – Fraser Aebly – Mark Casse

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Chris Lomon, Woodbine