Tepin Takes on Hard Not to Like in Diana

Robert Masterson's Tepin will take on Hard Not to Like July 25 in the $500,000 TVG Diana Stakes (gr. IT) at Saratoga Race Course, both last-out grade I winners looking to add another turf event of the highest caliber to their resumes.

Tepin, a 4-year-old daughter of Bernstein trained by Mark Casse, comes off a half-length victory in the one-mile Longines Just a Game Stakes (gr. IT) June 5 at Belmont Park, and rides a three-race win streak into the 1 1/8-mile Diana. Julien Leparoux, aboard for all three of those wins that include scores in the May 2 Distaff Turf Mile (gr. IIT) at Churchill Downs and in a Gulfstream Park allowance in March, rides from the rail.

"We've always thought she was on the special side," said Casse. "She trained as good as any 2-year-old we've ever had and ran well, and then she had a few setbacks as a 3-year-old. The key this year is that we've been able to run her without interruption."

With both of her past two wins coming at a mile, Tepin, who will carry 121 pounds, will have to stretch out a furlong in the Diana. The bay filly has failed to hit the board in two previous tries at the distance, running eighth in the Del Mar Oaks (gr. IT) and eighth in the Regret Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Churchill.

"My concern doesn't come from her prior attempts (at 1 1/8 miles)," said Casse. "At Churchill Downs she looked like she had a big chance to win and they almost put her over the hedge. She had a strange episode in California. Her jockey (Tyler Baze) said she felt fine on the track, but she nearly collapsed after the race due to the heat. The key to it all is her ability to settle. If she settles early, she has a shot."

Hard Not to Like, racing for Speedway Stable and trainer Christophe Clement, has not run since May 25 but secured the second grade I of her career that day, taking the Gamely (gr. IT) at Santa Anita Park by a neck over Fanticola after waiting at the eighth pole and getting through just in time to make a run.

A 6-year-old by Hard Spun  , Hard Not to Like picked up her stakes score of the season after finishing third in the April 11 Jenny Wiley (gr. IT) at Keeneland and reaching the wire first in the Endeavour (gr. IIIT) but being disqualified to second for interference in that Jan. 31 race at Tampa Bay Downs. The Endeavour was her first start of 2015 and her first since April of 2014 when she won the Jenny Wiley by half a length over Discreet Marq.

"She's doing very well," said Clement's assistant, Christophe Lorieul. "She didn't win by much in the Gamely, but it was a lot more impressive than it looks on paper. She was trapped on the inside and in the last sixteenth of a mile a hole opened up and she went through and won. She was the best horse the whole way. It's going to be a much tougher task (in the Diana), but she's doing well so we'll give it a try."

Jockey John Velazquez is reunited with Hard Not to Like for the first time since the Endeavour, and rides from post 4 as part of a 123-pound highweight assignment in a group of seven older fillies and mares.

Most notable among the others is Ken and Sarah Ramsey's multiple grade I winner Stephanie's Kitten, who finished fourth in the June 5 New York Stakes (gr. IIT) for trainer Chad Brown in her most recent start. The 6-year-old Kitten's Joy   mare was second by a neck in the 2014 Diana to Somali Lemonade, and came back two starts later to win the Flower Bowl Invitational (gr. IT). 

Brown has Kitten's Queen in this spot for the Ramseys as well; the 5-year-old daughter of Kitten's Joy was third in the New York Stakes in her last start and is seeking her first graded score.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott also will send out a pair of runners, Lady Lara and My Miss Sophia.

Owned by Ben Sangster, Lady Lara won the grade II Honey Fox in her 2015 debut and most recently finished fourth in the Just a Game. She will be ridden by Junior Alvarado from the outside in the expected field of seven.

My Miss Sophia, who entered Mott's barn after a disappointing 2014 campaign, has raced twice this year. After finishing fifth in the May 1 1 La Troienne (gr. IT), the 4-year-old turned heads in her subsequent start at Belmont, in which she rolled home to a 4 1/2-length victory in her career turf debut.

Joel Rosario will be aboard My Miss Sophia, owned by Alpha Delta Stables, from post 6.

Rounding out the field is Waltzing Matilda, who sprung a giant upset in the New York, winning at odds of 22-1 in her North American debut.