Tepin goes on a victory tour

AND the beat goes on. Tepin ventured west across Florida again, reaping a win in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Gulfstream Park March 12th. The beat looked out of tune, as Isabella Sings opened up 18 lengths through the early stages.

Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez, with an 18-length lead… only the champion ran her down, finally reeling in the third choice to win by a length.

Tepin improved her win streak to four and continued her quest at Royal Ascot.

Destin’s Derby date

A few weeks ago, Todd Pletcher told us that he was weak in the three-year-old division this year. Well, he’s getting stronger.

Pletcher accounted for the exacta in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby March 12th.

Twin Creek Racing Stable’s Destin ran down Outwork to score by a length in the $350,000 stakes. Star Hill finished third, don’t forget him as the races stretch out this spring.

Irish-bred fillies

sweep the boards

IN the Saturday Special, a weekly feature on thisishorseracing.com, I typed out a paragraph for Santa Anita’s nightcap.

It went like this…

Santa Anita. Race 11. 8:00. Irish-breds Lady Valeur, Jeremy’s Legacy, Nodiac and Mirage try to earn column inches in The Irish Field. The China Doll caps off a stellar card at Santa Anita.

Well, they earned it. Mirage rallied from last to nail Lady Valeur and Nodiac in the final strides of the $75,000 stakes. A neck, a nose and an $849.70 $1 trifecta box.

Owned by Mrs. Fitri Hay and trained by Simon Callaghan, Mirage won her debut at Brighton in June and ventured to America. The daughter of Oasis Dream lost four in a row, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, but has begun to rebuild her career, learning to settle while taking her second in a row.

Lady Valeur, a runner-up in her only Irish start for Edmond Kent, finished second in her stakes debut, while Nodiac, third in her only start in Ireland for Ger Lyons, hit the board for the second time in a stakes.

Melatonin causes Big ‘Cap surprise

A RACE before the Irish clean sweep, Melatonin upset the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, wiring eight rivals in the $1 million stakes race.

As the likes of California Chrome and Frosted venture to Dubai for the Dubai Gold Cup, it’s a good time to fish in the depleted waters of the handicap division.

Jockey Joe Talamo cast early and often, increasing his lead at every call to take the iconic California feature by four and a half lengths over Hard Aces and Breeders’ Cup runner-up Effinex.

The latter was making his first start since chasing American Pharoah, but failed to land a blow. After the race, it was revealed that he was suffering from hives.

Owned by Tarabilla Farm, Melatonin won for the third time since taking an 18-month sojourn and switching barns to David Hofmans. Talamo talked Hofmans, who trained Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Alphabet Soup and Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold, into running Melatonin in the Big Cap. See, sometimes you should listen to your jockey.