Tepin sets sights on 2016 campaign after BC Mile triumph

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Tepin came out of the race in good shape and will train on for a 2016 campaign, trainer Mark Casse said Sunday morning at Keeneland.

At some point in the near future, Tepin will be shipped to Casse’s Moonshadow Farm in Ocala, Fla., and get about 30 days off, just like she did this past winter. Casse said he would point Tepin to the Distaff Turf Mile, a race she won this year, as an early-season goal.

“I haven’t figured out yet how we’re going to get there, but the race Derby Day is what we’ll probably target,” said Casse.

Tepin got a beautiful pace-pressing trip Saturday under Julien Leparoux and beat runner-up Mondialiste by 2 1/4 lengths. On a “good” turf course that was dull and playing slow, she ran one mile in 1:36.69 and earned her second straight 108 Beyer Speed Figure. In addition to her win in the Distaff Turf Mile, Tepin won the Grade 1 Just a Game and the Grade 1 First Lady and finished second in the Grade 1 Diana and the Grade 1 Ballston Spa. That record coupled with her win over males in the Mile seems likely to earn her an Eclipse Award as champion female turf horse.

Tepin and Catch a Glimpse, who won the Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday, gave Casse his first and second Breeders’ Cup winners after he entered the weekend with a 0-for-23 mark in Breeders’ Cup races.

“Oh yeah, I felt a little stress about that,” said Casse. “It felt good to get that first one.”

Mondialiste, at 17-1 the highest-priced runner among six European shippers, was trapped inside near the back of the pack until the homestretch and came with a strong rally to finish second in his first race after winning the Woodbine Mile. He returns to trainer David O’Meara’s base in England but might yet run again this season as his connections are considering a trip to Hong Kong in December.

“I was very pleased with how he ran, and if the pace had been better and he got out sooner, he might have been closer,” said O’Meara. “He may go to Hong Kong. We might look at the Dubai Turf. We’ve got lots of options with him.”

Third-place Grand Arch appeared to run his race while beaten 1 1/2 lengths for second, and since the 6-year-old is a gelding, he will be pointed to a 2016 campaign by trainer Brian Lynch.

“He’ll get a little time off over the winter, and I’ll get started a little earlier with him to point to the Marker’s Mark Mile,” Lynch said, referring to the Grade 1 turf mile in April at Keeneland.

Karakontie, the 2014 Mile winner, could finish only 11th this year after becoming agitated in the paddock and going to post sweating and anxious. Trainer Jonathan Pease retires at the end of this year, and so has Karakontie, who will stay in Kentucky to go to stud at Gainesway Farm.