Tepin has final work before trip to Royal Ascot

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Champion turf mare Tepin was sent through her final breeze on Friday before her overseas journey to England, going a half-mile in 48.40 seconds at Churchill Downs.

With regular rider Julien Leparoux aboard, as usual, Tepin breezed over a fast track, going out five furlongs in 1:01.20, according to Churchill personnel.

“I thought it was a pretty typical work for her,” said Norman Casse, son of and assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “She’s real professional and goes out there and does what she does. She’s pretty easy to figure out if she’s doing well – and she’s doing well.”

Tepin, the 2015 Eclipse Award champion female turf runner, will be ridden by Leparoux against male rivals in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, a straightaway one-mile race that helps open the prestigious Royal Ascot meet in England on June 14. The 5-year-old mare has won her last six starts and nine of her last 11, with the two losses coming in tight photos. The Friday breeze was her second since she easily won the Grade 2 Churchill Turf Distaff on the May 7 Kentucky Derby card.

“I was in her stall a few days ago, shaking my head in disbelief, thinking she’s looking better than she ever has,” said Casse. “She’s going over there the right way. She’ll be ready.”

Tepin is scheduled to leave Monday for Keeneland, where she will spend several hours in quarantine before being vanned to Indianapolis for a direct flight that will arrive early Tuesday evening, London time. Miss Temple City, who runs in the Group 2 Duke of Cambridge on June 15, is booked on the same flight.