Okay, Mark Casse -- freshly christened member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, trainer of Tepin, Catch a Glimpse, and Lexie Lou, among others -- think youre hot stuff? Lets see what you can do with the enigmatic Noble Bird against Frosted on Saturday in the 89th running of the Whitney at Saratoga.Talk about bringing a butter knife to a gunfight.Of course, Casse does not think hes hot stuff, but when reached Thursday morning at Saratoga, he was still glowing from the Hall of Fame ceremonies the night before at the Mississagua Convention Centre near Woodbine. He was gracious and grateful in his acceptance speech, noting in awe the company of trainers he has joined that includes Lucien Laurin, Horatio Luro, and Roger Attfield, and his thank-yous were liberally spread among his owners, his horses, and the stable crews of his several training outposts.What Casse could not do, however, was finish his speech. With his voice cracking with emotion, he turned the podium over to his wife and racing partner, Tina Casse, and stood aside while she read his dedication to his father, the widely respected horseman Norman Casse, who died this year.With this honor, I spent a lot of time in reflection, Casse said. It seems that time is flying by now, but as you look back, as its going, sometimes its a little hard to enjoy it. As Allen Jerkens said when he was asked if everything was okay: When youre a horse trainer, everything is never okay.At 55, Casse was in his first year of eligibility for the Canadian Hall. The native of Indiana got there by winning the Woodbine training title 11 times, eight Sovereign Awards, and Canadian Horse of the Year with Sealy Hill, Uncaptured, Lexie Lou, and Catch a Glimpse. Taking Breeders Cup races last year with Catch a Glimpse and the champion Tepin didnt hurt either.Someone came up to me about a year ago and said how wonderful it must be to train all those good horses, Casse said. I just smiled and said yes. But as we all know, there is always something to worry about. Dont get me wrong, Im not complaining. And I love my life. But Ill tell you one thing: Ive grown to have a greater respect for Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher and those kind of guys.The feeling should be mutual. Casse first penetrated the North American top 10 in earnings in 2011 and has been there since, currently rolling fourth behind Pletcher, Chad Brown, and Steven Asmussen.With his assistant and son, Norman Casse, the elder Casse rocked the racing world last spring when they sent out Robert Mastersons Tepin to beat the best milers Europe could muster in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. The mare has been back in steady training, looking for a path to a defense of her title in the Breeders Cup Mile.Shes been struggling a bit with Saratogas main track -- its so deep and tiring, Casse said. So, were trying to figure out how to cope with that and get her ready for whatever is next. But were dealing with it, and shell be fine.While Tepin has been as reliable as the dawn, John Oxleys Noble Bird has been a puzzlement. Making his 17th start, the 5-year-old son of Travers winner Birdstone finds himself among five entered against Frosted in the $1.25 million Whitney, at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.All Casse and his jockey, Julien Leparoux, need to do is flip the 18 lengths or so that separated Frosted and Noble Bird at the end of the Met Mile at Belmont Park on June 11. That was the day Frosted freaked, winning by an official 14-1/4 lengths in a performance so off-the-wall remarkable that it stole the show from the featured Belmont Stakes and anything else that happened in horse racing that day.Its not a matter of finding those 18 lengths in Noble Bird, Casse said. What we need is for Frosted not to go throwing a 123 Beyer at us again. If he could regress a little bit, that would be very helpful.To describe Noble Bird as inconsistent is an understatement. Casse thought he had a classic colt on his hands when Noble Bird was a 3-year-old, but he did not win a maiden race until August of that year in his fifth start. At 4, he defeated Lea and Hoppertunity in the Stephen Foster Handicap, and this year he won the Pimlico Special by 11-1/4 lengths. In between, though, there were sprinkled grim efforts that baffled both Casse and his jockeys.Hes the toughest horse to ride Ive ever trained, Casse said. He can make good riders look bad. He breaks a little slow, and then he wants to run off. But if you take too much of a hold, hell stick his head straight up in the air, and the rider will fall back on the saddle.But he is a Grade 1 winner, Casse added, and he loves Saratoga. Hell work as good as a horse can work over that surface. So, if he brings his A game, hell run really well. If he doesnt, it doesnt matter where you run him. It doesnt make sense, so you might as well run for a lot of money. Wholesale Shoes Free Shipping Worldwide . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Wholesale Shoes China Free Shipping . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. http://www.wholesaleshoesfreeshipping.com/ . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Wholesale Fashion Shoes Free Shipping . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Wholesale Shoes For Sale Online . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Tim Tebow may have had his best day as a New York Mets prospect.The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL quarterback had two hits, scored a run and ended a three-inning game with a sliding grab Tuesday in his final tuneup before his instructional league debut. He is to play Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals instructional club.I feel like every day Im getting a little more comfortable, said Tebow, who singled in his last two at-bats of the simulated game. Its great just to see live pitching and get live at-bats. Im just getting a little bit better every day. Thats the goal.The first week of camp had more the feel of a circus. Tebow, the first sophomore to win the Heisman, was on display with new teammates, new surroundings and playing a sport he had not competed in since high school.His work last week with the instructional staff paid dividends Tuesday. Facing highly regarded Mets prospect Marcos Molina, Tebow struck out swinging on four pitches in the first inning.In the second, he looped a single to shallow center, the ball barely eluding diving shortstop Hansel Moreno, delighting the couple of hundred fans on hand. While attempting to steal, Tebow scored when the ball was batted into play and Moreno committed a throwing error on a force play at second.Tebow followed in the third inning with a sharp siingle through the left side on a 93 mph fastball from Cameron Planck.dddddddddddd just tried to take it where it was pitched, he said.Tebow played left field, and in the second inning charged hard on Morenos fly but failed to get close enough as the ball landed foul.I honestly try to (go after) everything pretty hard and try to stay intense. Hopefully, thats something I can bring to this game and these young kids, he said. Everything you do, just do it with an intense amount of focus and effort.On the games final out, a drive in the gap, he backhanded the ball for his second putout of the day.You try to get on your horse and go run it down and do what you can do to make the catch, he said.As for his professional debut, Tebow wants to keep things simple.You prepare for it the same way you prepared for today, he said. You dont want to change anything. You dont want a game day to be any bigger than any other day. Consistency is the key. Just make the next day a little bit better.Wednesday will be different -- a full game against pitchers he hasnt seen.It will be fun to suit and get to play a different team and compete, Tebow said. But I think weve been competing every day. Its one more day and one more opportunity. ' ' '