BC Mile: Tourist heads to stud, Tepin maybe to Hong Kong
ARCADIA, Ca. – Tourist, winner of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday at Santa Anita, probably is headed to a second career as a stud at WinStar Farm this week, but Mile runner-up Tepin could be on to further global adventures as well as another season racing at age 6.
Tourist, who got a 108 Beyer Speed Figure winning the Mile by a half-length over Tepin, will depart Santa Anita in coming days and go directly to WinStar Farm in Kentucky. But while Elliot Walden, CEO of WinStar, which owns Tourist with Adam Wachtel and Gary Barber, said suggested in a post-race press conference that 5-year-old Tourist likely would be retired to stud, plans for the horse have not yet been set.
“We are going to huddle up this week and decide for sure,” Walden said in a text message Sunday afternoon. “He is owned by two guys that race and a stud farm. We will see how the week goes.”
Tourist, eighth in the 2015 Mile and 13th in the 2014 edition, got his first Grade 1 win this past summer in the Fourstardave at Saratoga, and punctuated his 5-year-old campaign with the most important victory of his career.
“He came into this one in perfect shape,” Mott said. “We got the ground we needed and the trip that we desired. And the rest is history.”
But Tepin, the champion female turf horse in 2015 when she won the Mile, does not appear headed off the racetrack just yet. Owner Robert Masterson said the mare would remain in training during 2017, might even race again this year in the Hong Kong Mile on Dec. 11 at Sha Tin.
“We’re seriously thinking about going to Hong Kong,” Masterson said Sunday morning. “Let the world see her. She’s been everywhere.”
Trainer Mark Casse said that Tepin would ship to Churchill Downs on Tuesday and will be evaluated before plans are made.
Masterson said as long as Tepin continues to thrive, he sees no reason for her to stop racing. “She’s wonderful. She doesn’t have a pimple on her. She’s just as good as she’s ever been,” he said.
Miss Temple City, who chased a hot pace and held on for fifth, also is being considered for a trip to Hong Kong, and like Tepin is expected to race again next year.
“I believe she stays in training,” trainer Graham Motion said. “She’s had a light campaign. We talked about Hong Kong. We’ve got to make some decisions.”
Third-place Midnight Storm appeared to come out of the race in good shape, according to trainer Phil d’Amato.
“I won’t make any plans with him until I see how he trains out of the race. So far, so good,” d’Amato said.
Fourth-place Ironicus is expected to go to stud at Claiborne Farm. Ironicus closed ground in the homestretch, but lacked the spark needed to catch the top two.
“He ran fine. He did have a lot to do turning for home,” McGaughey said. “He’s a little older, and he probably wants to run a little farther.”
The English shipper Limato, surprisingly favored at just less than 7-2, tracked the pacesetters but came up empty the final quarter-mile and finished sixth.
“He traveled very well, but perhaps just going into that last bend he wasn’t going quite as well as he usually does,” jockey Harry Bentley said. “He’s lost nothing in defeat.”
The talented 3-year-old filly Alice Springs, bet to 4-1, never really got involved in the running and finished 10th. Trainer Aidan O’Brien said Alice Springs would return for a 2017 campaign after a winter break.
-- additional reporting by David Grening
