Mark Casse always has time to talk Tepin.
With a stable of horses that competes nearly every day of the week for a majority of the season across the U.S. and Canada, time can be at a premium for the amicable dual Hall of Fame conditioner Casse.
And while he always finds time to answer any call, one gets the impression he would stop whatever he was doing to speak of Tepin.
“For sure,” said Casse. “I could talk about her all day.”
Bred in Kentucky by Machmer Hall, Tepin was sired by Bernstein out of the unraced Stravinsky mare Life Happened.
As a yearling, Tepin was consigned to the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale, where she was purchased by Robert Masterson for $140,000. Masterson turned the filly over to Casse, whose son, Norman, also played a key role in Tepin’s day-to-day training.
The mare who would go on to reach superstar status took some time to hit her best stride.
Tepin showed signs of talent in her 2-year-old season in 2013, but a four-race winless campaign the following year kept her out of the headlines.
All that changed over a brilliant 4-year-old season.
She won a trio of Grade 1 events, namely, the Just A Game Stakes, First Lady Stakes, and Breeders’ Cup Mile.
In the Mile, at Keeneland, a race that had not been won by a North American-based female since 1984, Tepin took on a world-class group of males and recorded a 2½-length victory over turf titan Mondialiste.
“Unbelievable,” started Casse. “When she won the Breeders’ Cup, it was truly an international race, with the best horses in the world running. She didn’t just win, she won impressively.”
Tepin’s accomplishments were recognized in the form of the 2015 Eclipse Award Champion Turf Female honors.
It would only get better from there.
She launched her 5-year-old season with back-to-back triumphs in the Grade 3 Endeavour Stakes and Grade 2 Hillsborough Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
In the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland, Tepin sailed to a five-length score in stakes-record fashion, 1:40.53 over 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
The effort prompted her connections to square off against accomplished European milers in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in England.
If Tepin was nervous on race day, she didn’t show it.
“In Europe, there are no valets, so you can either saddle your horse in the barn or in the paddock,” recalled Casse. “Norm (Casse’s son, an assistant trainer at the time) and I chose to saddle her at the barn. We are putting the saddle on—this is kind of new to u—and Norm is on the side where the valet stands. He let go of the saddle on that side and it went flying.
“I can still remember her turning her head with a look that said, ‘You dummies. Don’t you know what you are doing?’ She didn’t react at all.”
After the gates opened in the Queen Anne, Tepin settled in comfortably before finding her way to the front in the final quarter mile and then holding strong to secure a hard-fought half-length score.
Tepin became the first horse based outside of Europe to win the race.
“I would say that was definitely our biggest victory,” recalled Casse. “At the time, I don’t know if I appreciated it as much as I appreciate it now. Royal Ascot was not on my radar that much, but since we won there, I watch the race often and I realize how great an accomplishment it was for her.”
It also delivered a once-in-a-lifetime interaction.
“I remember I had the chance to speak about Tepin with the Queen after the race. Her Majesty was very impressed.”
For Casse, Tepin’s triumph was a game-changing moment in his career.
“She is the one who put me on the radar for the U.S. Hall of Fame,” said the conditioner, who is also in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. “We had great success in North America, but Tepin made us known around the world.”
After Royal Ascot, the next stamp on Tepin’s passport was in Toronto, where she once again took on the boys, and once again made a trip to the winner’s circle when she won the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile.
It was her eighth straight triumph.
She made two more starts, finishing second in her attempts to repeat in the First Lady at Keeneland and the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.
When she was retired after the completion of her 2016 campaign, Tepin, who earned her Champion Turf Female honor, had claimed victories in 11 graded or group stakes at eight different venues, won in three different countries, showcased an enviable trophy case and earned adoration from fans across the globe.
Her final record was a magnificent 13-5-1 from 23 starts with earnings of $4,437,918. In 2022, she was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame.
At the 2017 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale, Tepin was sold for $8 million to M.V. Magnier of Coolmore Stud. She gave birth to a Curlin filly in 2018, a filly in 2019 by champion European sire Galileo, another Galileo filly in 2021, and a colt by another top European sire, Dubawi, in 2022.
“She knew she was special,” said Casse.
And the man who campaigned Tepin to the pinnacle of racing greatness treasures every opportunity to speak of her.
“People still talk to me about Tepin. It’s nice to hear what they have to say. It’s fitting too because she loves people. When you hear their words, it always reminds you of just how exceptional she was.”