Tepin favourite but Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Mutakayyef will be no pushover in Canada

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s raider one of eight contenders for Group 1 race, writes Geoffrey Riddle.

Paul Hanagan’s schedule meant he will not ride Mutakayyef, centre. Alan Crowhurst / Getty Images

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s Mutakayyef will attempt to derail Tepin’s bid for an eighth successive victory when the pair go head-to-head at Woodbine Racecourse in Canada on Saturday.

Tepin makes her first start since June in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile Stakes in Canada, a CAN$1 million (Dh2.7m) event that acts as a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita in November.

The mare faces seven rivals, led by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid’s raider who is one of three horses that have shipped in from Europe and will be ridden by Dane O’Neill.

Paul Hanagan did not travel because he was due to partner Mokarris, trained by Simon Crisford, in the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury today, but after torrential rain the son of More Than Ready was pulled from the juvenile sprint on Friday.

Mutakayyef was judged to have been unlucky when third to Postponed under Hanagan in the International Stakes at York last month.

Postponed came across Mutakayyef to chop off his run up the near-side rail in the final stages of the 2000-metre contest, a move which perhaps prevented him from finishing second.

“He shipped well,” Angus Gold, racing manager for Sheikh Hamdan, said.

“On his best form he would have a chance, but I’m not going to say that we are definitely going to beat Tepin.

“He has pulled himself together as a five-year-old, having been gelded, and with a clear run I think he would have been bang on top of them at York.

“We don’t know what his best trip is, but he has the speed for a mile and wants fast ground so this race is perfect.”

Tepin, who will once again be ridden by Julien Leparoux, produced one of the performances of the year three months ago when she defied rain-softened ground to beat the colts in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Tepin’s run at Royal Ascot showed not only that she is one of the world’s leading mares, but that she can perform under the most difficult conditions anywhere in the world.

Eight of Tepin’s 12 victories have come at different racecourses and she travelled without a hiccup to Canada. Following her arrival on Wednesday she has been training well on the Tapeta surface under work rider Jason Hoyte.

“It was so nice to get on her,” Hoyte said. “I haven’t been on her since she was a two-year-old. I can feel it in her that she has matured a lot. She was nice and relaxed.”

Most turf champions start their careers in Europe, but as a product of North American breeding the five-year-old daughter of Bernstein is a rare commodity.

Known as “The Queen Of The Turf,” she has been plagued by photographers since her arrival and there even have been reports from local papers that several new-born children have been named Tepin, such is the mare’s status.

Norman Casse, the assistant trainer to his father Mark, has been overseeing operations and confirmed Hoyte’s thoughts.

“She has settled in perfectly, as expected,” he said. “That’s one of the things that makes her so special. She can go and do these things and never miss a beat. She was really happy on Wednesday and was also on Thursday morning.”

Other European challengers include the Qatar Racing pair of Arod and Mr Owen, while Juddmonte’s Full Mast has yet to capture the form for trainer Bill Mott that saw him placed first in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere at the Arc meeting in October 2014.

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