Counting Stars Shines In Run Towards Breeders Cup And Year End Honors

During the Spring and Summer, most of the Thoroughbred racing focus is on events like the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes. All these races are restricted to three-year-olds and mostly males run in them. For every race that has colts contending for greatness and notoriety, there is a sister race for those wonderful three-year-old fillies. During the 2026 racing season, a fantastic filly named Counting Stars has been quite celestial and is shining as bright as any three-year-old currently, regardless of gender.

The grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks has long been a summer showcase for the three-year-old girls. Inaugurated in 1917, this mile and an eighth dance over the New York dirt has seen its fair share of fantastic fillies. The 2026 edition was a showdown between Kentucky Oaks (opening leg of the Triple Tiarra) winner Always A Runner and Acorn Stakes (third leg and sister to the Belmont Stakes) champ Counting Stars. As the race unfolded, it became more of a showcase for a fabulous female.

Breaking alertly under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Counting Stars immediately assumed the lead and rolled through some solid early fractions (23.86 opening quarter mile, 47.60 half mile). Sashaying to the top of the stretch in an almost effortless fashion, this daughter of Honor A.P. was suddenly challenged by her rival and Oaks winner Always A Runner. With an eighth of a mile to go, the two were running side by side and separated by a whisker. Suddenly, the Stars aligned and with an amazing comet-like burst of speed, this mercurial filly trained by Mark Casse left her rival eating kickback as she whisked towards the wire. At the sixteenth pole the race was over and Counting Stars cruised past the finish an emphatic 4 ¼ lengths ahead in Stakes record time (1:48.98).

“Coming into the race I was about as confident as you can be in this filly”, says trainer Mark Casse. “At the eighth pole, I wondered if perhaps I was wrong and she’s not as good as I think. Always a Runner is a very good horse so naturally I was a little concerned, but then she responded to the challenge with a huge effort down the lane”.

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Trainer Mark Casse has celebrated many wins during his hall of fame career and recognizes the talented filly he has in Counting Stars. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Since first toeing the track for a race on September 25, 2025, Counting Stars has been a bright spot in a very deep and talented Mark Casse barn. Winning her first start at Churchill Downs by four lengths, her Hall of Fame conditioner had a good feeling about this granddaughter of the speedy Paynter.

“I can’t remember the last time I nominated a filly to the Triple Crown, but I nominated her, if that tells you what I think of her”, says Casse, who has won over 4,000 races in his career. “We didn’t run her against the boys in any of those races because our focus is simply trying to make her the champion three-year-old filly”.

Casse’s goal for his prized three-year-old runner is well within reach. Since the first of the year, Counting Stars has been quite shiny in winning three graded Stakes races (Fantasy Stakes, Acorn, Coaching Club American Oaks) and finished second once (Honeybee) while third in another (Kentucky Oaks). Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, this $150,000 purchase as a two-year-old has six wins in ten career starts with just over $1.6 million in earnings on the track. Her next start will likely be the grade 1 Alabama stakes at Saratoga on August 22.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com