Include Betty stretches legs in three-furlong breeze

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Grade 1 winner Include Betty moved closer to her 4-year-old debut by breezing three furlongs in 37.20 seconds here last Thursday, her first work since October. Though she’s earned almost all of her $741,030 bankroll on dirt, she’s a candidate for the graded turf stakes for fillies and mares here later in the meet, said former Kentucky Gov. Brereton C. Jones, who shares ownership of the filly with Timothy C. Thornton.

Last January, Include Betty won the $50,000 Suncoast Stakes here before adding victories in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes, the Grade 1 Mother Goose, and the Remington Park Oaks. Last out, she was second to Tiger Ride in the Grade 3 Pin Oak Valley View Stakes in October. That race originally was scheduled for turf but was moved to Keeneland’s main track. Include Betty has run once on turf, finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks here last March.

Jones said Include Betty, trained by Tom Proctor, will be considered for the Grade 3 Endeavour Stakes on Feb. 13 and the Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes on March 12. Both turf routes are for fillies and mares ages 4 and up.

“I think she can probably run on the turf as well as she runs on the dirt, and wherever Tom feels that she fits is where she’ll go,” Jones said. “I think it’s certainly a possibility. She’s a filly with just an enormous amount of quality to her. We’re awfully excited about her.”

The Endeavour Stakes is likely to mark the 5-year-old debut of Tepin, a leading candidate for an Eclipse Award as the champion female grass horse of 2015. Last year, the daughter of Bernstein had five wins and a pair of runner-up finishes in seven starts for trainer Mark Casse, including a win over males in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Tepin also scored in the Grade 1 First Lady, the Grade 1 Just a Game, and the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile.

Tepin turned in her first breeze of the new year last Friday, going four furlongs in 52.25 seconds at Palm Meadows. Casse said if all goes well in the Endeavour, Tepin might face males again in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland in April.

“One thing about Tepin is that if she can come back to the form she had in 2015, she isn’t limited to running against females,” Casse said.

Casse also has Catch a Glimpse, the winner of the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Grade 2 Natalma Stakes, as a candidate for the Florida Oaks here March 12. Casse said Catch a Glimpse was being pointed to the Grade 3 The Sweetest Chant for 3-year-old fillies on the Gulfstream Park turf Jan. 30, but the filly recently missed a few days of training with a temperature.

Catch a Glimpse is likely to have a prep race at Gulfstream prior to running in the Florida Oaks, Casse said.