Odds-On Favorite Ewing Returns to Mark Casse Barn After Disappointing Ozark Sixth

Ewing, a Knicks Go colt who captured the Grade 2 Saratoga Special last summer, has been returned to trainer Mark Casse's barn after a disappointing sixth-place finish in the $150,000 Ozark Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters on Feb. 16. Coverage on Feb. 26 noted Ewing had been the odds-on favorite in that race.

The Grade 2 Saratoga Special victory last summer remains Ewing's headline credential, but his Feb. 16 outing failed to match that form. The Ozark Stakes carried a $150,000 purse and was restricted to 3-year-old sprinters; Ewing's sixth-place result stood in sharp contrast to expectations when he entered the gate as the odds-on choice.

Mark Casse, whose barn has handled Ewing's training since the colt broke as a juvenile, received Ewing back following the Ozark. The return to Casse's base was reported on Feb. 26, with stable officials moving the colt off the race trail to reassess his condition and immediate plans.

Ewing's status as a Saratoga Special winner and as the odds-on favorite in a mid-February stakes race frames the significance of the Ozark result for connections and owners. A sixth-place finish in a $150,000 stakes for 3-year-old sprinters represents a tangible reversal for a horse that had been pegged for high-level juvenile and early 3-year-old success.

The timeline is clear: Ewing ran in the Ozark Stakes on Feb. 16, did not meet expectations from his morning-line favoritism, and was back in Mark Casse's barn as of Feb. 26. That sequence leaves Ewing at a crossroads between his 2025 summer Grade 2 victory and an underwhelming winter stakes appearance, and it places pressure on Casse's team to identify whether this was an off race, a physical issue, or a sign of regression.

Ewing's next steps will be determined from the Casse barn after post-race evaluations, but the concrete facts remain: a Grade 2 Saratoga Special winner, odds-on favorite in the $150,000 Ozark Stakes on Feb. 16, and returned to Mark Casse's care as reported on Feb. 26.