ROYAL ASCOT victor Tepin (Mark Casse/Julien Leparoux) extended her winning sequence to eight races with a cosy-but-decisive victory on her return to North American action in the $1 million Woodbine Mile.
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Tepin was not that visually electric on the rain-softened turf, but the mount of Julien Leparoux still had the class to cosily repel Tower Of Texas, with Mutakayyef not far away under Dane O’Neill.
The Woodbine faithful couldn’t have been more delighted with the win.
“I’d never been part of something like that”, he said.
“This was a really special moment for me”. Making her first start back since a victorious trip to Royal Ascot in June is champion turf mare Tepin.
Woodbine Mile post positions and odds are below as seen on the HRN Stakes Tracker. Turning the corner in her last few works, including a sensational bullet:58 2/5 five furlongs August 29 on the Saratoga training turf, the “Queen of the Turf” was made a 2-5 proposition in her North American return. “We’re just so proud of her”. That’s how she is.
“Everybody loves her and it’s great”.
Casse said Tepin is expected to compete in one final race before the Breeders’ Cup.
“She’s obviously all heart”, said Casse. She’s exhausted afterwards. That’s what she does. “She has so much confidence that she makes me confident”. “She got a little exhausted at the end but we expected that”.
“Even watching the Royal Ascot race, she didn’t have to win that”, Casse added.
“She’s won three Grade 1s at Keeneland, said Masterson”. Because that’s what she is. Leparoux might want to consider taking out Canadian citizenship.
The “Queen of The Turf”, reigned supreme Saturday.
Owner Robert Masterson says a return to Keeneland is on the cards, where she could stick to her own sex in the First Lady or take on the colts again in the Shadwell Turf Mile.
“It’s nearly like she knows she’s going to go ahead and win the race”, said Leparoux, who suffered a fractured wrist August 6 at Saratoga. “She makes my job easy”.
The Woodbine Mile is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” race to the Breeders’ Cup Mile, which Tepin won previous year.
His champion mare Tepin was flying on the E.P. Taylor Turf course on Saturday, but trainer Mark Casse was grounded.
Tower of Texas finished a half-length behind in second ahead of Mutafayyek. “Scott called me at 10:30 (a.m.) and asked, ‘So what do you want to do?’ I told him I vote for two pilots”. But for a head and a neck, Tepin’s unbeaten run would now stretch back two years and 13 races; she stopped the clock in 1m.34.13s. Tepin captured the Woodbine Mile with a spirited kick in the stretch.
Norman Casse validated the Keeneland plan. “But I’m here looking for the next Tepin or the next Catch a Glimpse”. “From this race, she’s going to get better later in the year”. We’re better off running than working her.
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“As much as I travel, I am not a great traveler”, he said. “I follow the saying, ‘It is better to be on the ground and wish you were in the air than to be in the air and wish you were on the ground'”.
