Robert Masterson's superstar Tepin (Bernstein) will skip Saratoga's GII Ballston Spa S. at the end of the month and instead make her return to the races in the Sept. 17 GI Woodbine Mile S., trainer Mark Casse revealed yesterday. Last year's champion turf female is a perfect five-for-five this season, and was last seen annexing Royal Ascot's G1 Queen Anne S. June 14. Originally expected to take on males in the Spa's GI Fourstardave H. this Saturday, it was later decided that she would wait for the Ballston Spa Aug. 27, where she would have faced comebacking undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Lady Eli (Divine Park). But with the 5-year-old having only recorded one official workout since she returned to the States (four furlongs over Saratoga's Oklahoma turf course in :50:41 {24/43} July 22), Casse and his team decided to give her more time.
“She's really doing well now, she really is, but our thought was that we really rushed her back trying to make the other race,” he noted. “Our plan is, if all continues to go well, she'll probably breeze at the end of the week. When we started the year, Mr. Masterson said there were two things he wanted to do: he wanted to try and win at Royal Ascot, and win the Woodbine Mile, so we're just going to concentrate on that.”
Casse, Woodbine's perennial leading trainer and recent inductee into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, is seeking his first Woodbine Mile victory. Tepin will ship to Churchill Downs with a string overseen by Casse's son Norman at the end of Saratoga.
“We'll bring her to Churchill–Norman will have her there and she will ship to Woodbine a couple of days before, just like we would do any other time. Hopefully she and Julien will be back at the same time.”
Tepin's regular rider Julien Leparoux fractured his left wrist Saturday, and is expected to miss about four weeks.
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