Robert Masterson's Tepin (Bernstein), reigning champion female turfer and a winner of seven straight races, posted her final work ahead of Saturday's GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile Monday morning, covering four furlongs in :49.71 over the Oklahoma turf at Saratoga. A five-time Grade I winner, including a victory in last year's GI Breeders' Cup Mile, Tepin will be making her first start since a hard-fought victory in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot June 14.
“Today was an easy half-mile,” said Norman Casse, assistant to his father, Mark Casse. “All her big works have been completed and this was just a maintenance type work. We didn't put her in company. Her regular exercise rider worked her. It was a typical work for Tepin. She went off a little slow and we asked her to finish around the quarter pole. She flew home and got the last quarter in :23 flat. From the wire to the 3/4-pole, I got her in :12 and change, so she was actually galloping out better than she was working. I was really encouraged by the work.”
Tepin is scheduled to train at Saratoga Wednesday morning and then travel by van to Toronto in the afternoon. The younger Casse admitted that despite the Woodbine Mile's prestigious status, it will be hard to replicate the satisfaction of her win at Royal Ascot.
“To go over there and win one of their most important races was special,” Casse explained. “The only way we could ever top that feeling again would be to win the Kentucky Derby. It's one of those fleeting moments. It's like an out-of-body experience and I wish we could bottle up the feeling we had when she won at Royal Ascot.”
Nevertheless, Casse added that the sheer experience of having a horse in the barn like Tepin makes days like Saturday exciting.
“She's a superstar and she embraces it,” said Casse. “She soaks up the media attention and likes the fans to come and see her. She was anointed the 'Queen of the Turf' by Travis Stone when she won at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day. You'll see when she arrives. She knows she's the queen.”
One horse with a chance to dethrone Tepin in Saturday's fixture is Qatar Racing Limited's Mr. Owen (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), sixth in last year's edition of the Mile. The French invader checked in third in the G2 Prix du Muguet at Saint-Cloud May 1 and most recently was second in the G3 Prix Messidor at Maisons-Laffitte. Both races were won by Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp hero Vadamos (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}).
“His last race was very good and even if he couldn't rivalize with Vadamos, he showed that he was on the way to his best form,” trainer Francois Rohaut said of the 4-year-old. “He is in good form. He worked last Monday and yesterday, and we are very happy with him… Last year when he ran the Ricoh Woodbine Mile, he found a soft ground he doesn't appreciate and it was probably a bit hard for a three-year-old against good older horses.”
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