Tepin begins gearing up for Royal Ascot

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tepin will breeze Saturday morning at Churchill Downs as the standout turf mare begins serious preparations for her much-awaited next start June 14 in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“It’ll be a pretty strong move,” said trainer Mark Casse. “Then she’ll have an easier work before she leaves” for England on June 4.

The Saturday breeze will be the first for Tepin since the 5-year-old mare easily captured the Churchill Downs Turf Distaff on May 7 for her sixth straight victory. The Group 1 Queen Anne is run as a straightaway mile and is open to both sexes.

Meanwhile, another Casse turf star who won on Kentucky Derby weekend, Catch a Glimpse, breezed five furlongs Wednesday in 1:00.60 over a fast track at Keeneland.

“We’re seriously thinking of running her against the boys in the Penn Mile” at Penn National on June 4, said Casse. “It’s a $500,000 race at a mile, and both of those are attractive to us. Her numbers stack up well against the 3-year-old turf males, so we might well give them a try.”