Robert Masterson’s Tepin headlines a probable field of nine for the Grade 1 $1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile, to be held Saturday, September 17, at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto.
Tepin, a five-time Grade 1 winner and the Eclipse Award champion grass mare of 2015 known as the ‘Queen of the Turf’, brings a seven-race win streak into the Woodbine Mile which is a Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In event.
The champion mare breezed five furlongs over the Saratoga training turf on Monday in :59.88 under jockey Florent Geroux. However, Tepin’s regular rider, Julien Leparoux, will ride the talented bay having recently recovered from a wrist injury suffered in the gallop out of a race at Saratoga in August.
The mount in the $1-million Mile was always reserved for Leparoux.
“That was never in question,” said Casse. “Right now, Flo is the understudy and he’s got to know Tepin quite well, but there was never any question that Julien would ride her.
“Julien is, and has been, a real big part of our team and anytime you have a team player down it hurts,” continued Casse. “He’s breezed horses for us this week at Churchill. We’ve been anxious to have him back and not just for Tepin, he’ll ride Airoforce this weekend in the Dueling Grounds Derby (at Kentucky Downs) for us.”
Leparoux won the Queen’s Plate with Sir Dudley Digges here in July for trainer Mike Maker and owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey.
Casse was particularly impressed with Tepin’s most recent breeze in which she worked in company with Ontario-bred Natalma hopeful, Enstone.
“Tepin was super. She’s training as good as she ever has if not better. She worked with Enstone, a Canadian-bred we ran at Saratoga and got beat a head,” said Casse.
Enstone, a maiden after three starts, is well-regarded by the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame trainer.
“We entered Enstone three times at Saratoga and when we finally got her in, the race came off the turf and we had to scratch her. We’re going to run her in the Natalma,” said Casse. “We think a lot of Enstone and we wanted somebody that could keep up with Tepin and that’s not easy to do. She worked with her and galloped out with her. We were impressed. Obviously, it was not a race but it was an impressive work for both.”
Tepin is slated to work once more at Saratoga before shipping up to Woodbine on Tuesday with an entourage of stakes hopefuls.
“Tepin will work on Sunday at Saratoga and arrive at Woodbine, with an entire contingency of horses, probably on Tuesday,” said Casse. “Tepin, World Approval, Enstone and Black Canary will come up. Irad Ortiz will ride Black Canary in the Natalma.”
Casse has seven fillies nominated to the Grade 1 Natalma and another five to the Grade 2 Summer Stakes. Both juvenile events, slated for one mile on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course on Sunday, September 18, are part of the Breeders’ Cup Win & You’re In series.
“If all goes well we have Thora Barber, Victory to Victory, Black Canary, Enstone and possibly Kodiak Gal for the Natalma,” continued Casse. “And as far as the Summer, we have Conquest Sure Shot and Conquest Farenheit.”
Casse noted that Woodbine Mile nominee Conquest Enforcer will race Sunday in the $100,000 Allied Forces Stakes, a six furlong turf sprint at Belmont Park.
Early Look at Grade 1 Ricoh Woodbine Mile (9)
Horse/Owner/Trainer/
Arod / Qatar Racing Limited / Peter Chapple-Hyam
Full Mast / Juddmonte Farms / William Mott
Glenville Gardens / Janice Attard / Sid Attard
Mondialiste / Geoff and Sandra Turnbull / David O’Meara
Mr. Owen / Qatar Racing Limited / Francois Rohaut
Mutakayyef / Shadwell Stable / William J. Haggas
Passion for Action / Benjamin Hutzel / Mike DePaulo
Tepin / Robert E. Masterson / Mark Casse
Tower of Texas / Thomas F. Van Meter II and Scott Dilworth / Roger Attfield
Passion for Action Looking for Bolster Resume
Passion for Action, trained by Mike DePaulo for owner-breeder Ben Hutzel, is a multiple graded stakes winning son of Speightstown. The Ontario-bred colt made the grade in the Grade 3 Vigil Stakes on May 7 and has since added a score in the turf Grade 2 Highlander to his resume.
“He came back from Gulfstream in pretty good shape and just took off. He’s been winning on both the Tapeta and the turf,” said DePaulo.
The well-bred colt is out of Maritime Passion, by Stormy Atlantic, who won the Shady Well Stakes at Woodbine in 2009. DePaulo is hopeful the Hutzel homebred can pick up a serious part of the purse in the Mile.
“There’s been a little bit of interest in him as a stallion. We might have to go to the U.S. and win something on the dirt to make it work,” said DePaulo. “Passion’s sire, Speightstown is a $100,000 stud fee and Passion’s mare (Maritime Passion) is a stakes winner and we’re trying to improve the family.
“We have the mare bred to some nice horses,” continued DePaulo. “She has a current two-year-old by Lookin at Lucky that we like and she has a weanling by More Than Ready and she’s in foal to Elusive Quality. So, we’re hoping that family line continues to succeed.”
DePaulo has a lot of faith in the hard-trying Passion for Action who always runs bigger than his stature.
“Physically, he’s a well-made horse. He’s a Northern Dancer looking type horse. He’s not huge, but he has a lot of heart,” said DePaulo.
Passion for Action will be stretching out to a mile for his first attempt at a Grade 1.
“He won the Cup and Saucer as a two-year-old and that was a mile and a sixteenth on the grass. I know this is going to be a little tougher, but we’re hoping the Mile is within range,” said DePaulo.
Luis Contreras, aboard for that Cup and Saucer coup, will take over from Eurico Rosa da Silva in the Mile.
“Luis knows him well and he’s not that tough a horse to ride,” said DePaulo. “He’ll breeze an easy five-eighths again on the grass this weekend. We’ll be ready.”
Early Look at Grade 1 Northern Dancer, presented by hpibet.com (11)
Horse/Owner/Trainer/
Big Blue Kitten / Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey / Chad Brown
Button Down / Greenwood Lodge Farm Inc. / Josie Carroll
Camp Creek / Hillsbrook Farms / Rachel Halden
Danish Dynaformer / Charles E. Fipke / Roger Attfield
Goodyearforroses / Lincoln Collins & Roger Attfield / Roger Attfield
Majeed / Khalifa Dasmal / David Simcock
Messi / Gestut Brummerhof / Graham Motion
The Pizza Man / Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc. / Roger Brueggemann
Up With the Birds / Sam-Son Farm / Malcolm Pierce
Wake Forest / Michael Dubb, Sheep Pond Partners and Bethlehem Stables LLC
World Approval / Live Oak Plantation / Mark Casse
Early Look at Grade 2 Canadian Breeders’ Cup Win & You’re In (12)
Horse / Owner / Trainer
Button Down / Greenwood Lodge Farm Inc. / Josie Carroll
Dacita / Sheep Pond Partners and Bradley Thoroughbreds / Chad Brown
Faufiler / Flaxman Holdings, Ltd. / Graham Motion
Goodyearforroses / Lincoln Collins and Roger Attfield / Roger Attfield
Midnight Miley / Little Red Feather Racing / Julia Carey
Muffri’ha / Sheikh Juma Dalmook al Maktoum / William J. Haggas
Rainha Da Bateria / Three Chimneys Farm / Chad Brown
Real Smart / B. E. Nielsen / Graham Motion
Steip Amach / Haras d’Etreham / David Smaga
Strut the Course / John Unger / Barb Minshall
Wekeela / Martin S. Schwartz / Chad Brown
Zipessa / Empyrean Stables / Michael Stidham
Woodbine Mile Draw Available Online
The Ricoh Woodbine Mile draw is slated for 12 p.m. ET on Wednesday September 14 at the east-end VIP tent. The draw will be streamed live at www.woodbinemile.com. Further information and event details for Mile day are available there. The Twitter hashtag is #WoMile.
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