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Champion Tepin Headlines All-Star Roster of Nominations for Keeneland’s Fall Stars Weekend Stakes

LEXINGTON, KY (Sept. 24, 2016) – Robert Masterson’s brilliant mare Tepin, the reigning champion female turf runner who has earned more than $4 million and won eight consecutive races, headlines the list of horses nominated to Keeneland’s Fall Stars Weekend on Oct. 7-9, opening weekend of the Fall Meet.

Fall Stars Weekend features nine graded stakes worth $3.7 million. Five of those races are Grade 1 events and seven races are “Win and You’re In” events for the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to be contested at Santa Anita Nov. 4-5.
Trained by Mark Casse, Tepin is nominated to the 31st running of the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1), the richest race of the Fall Meet, as well as the $400,000 First Lady (G1), a race she won last year.
The Shadwell Turf Mile, for 3-year-olds and up and a Win and You’re In race for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), drew 35 nominations and will be run Saturday, Oct. 8. Among the nominations are Grand Arch, winner of the 2015 Shadwell Turf Mile, and Arlington Million (G1) winner Mondialiste (IRE), who finished second to Tepin in the Breeders’ Cup Mile last year at Keeneland.
The First Lady, for fillies and mares going a mile on the turf and also scheduled for Oct. 8, drew 30 nominations. Along with Tepin, marquee names on the roster include her stablemate Catch a Glimpse, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Canada’s 2015 Horse of the Year, and Miss Temple City, who defeated males this spring in the Maker’s 46 Mile (G1) at Keeneland.
The Grade 1 stakes action begins Friday, Oct. 7 with the 65th running of the $400,000 Darley Alcibiades for 2-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on dirt. A Win and You’re In test for the $2 million 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), the Darley Alcibiades drew 45 nominations led by the two fillies who finished in a dead heat to win the Spinaway (G1), Pretty City Dancer and Sweet Loretta.
The 103rd running of the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1), to be run Oct. 8 at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, attracted 47 nominations headed by Grade 1 winners Klimt and Practical Joke. The race is a Win and You’re In test for the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).
The fifth Grade 1 race of Fall Stars Weekend is the 61st running of the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster for fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles on dirt. Scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 9, the Juddmonte Spinster is a Win and You’re In event for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).
A total of 20 fillies and mares were nominated to the Juddmonte Spinster, including Grade 1 winners Curalina, Forever Unbridled, I’m a Chatterbox and 2015 Darley Alcibiades winner Gomo.
Kicking off Fall Stars Weekend on Oct. 7 is the 164th running of the $250,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2), a six-furlong dirt test that is a Win and You’re In race for the $1.5 million TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). Defending champion Runhappy, the Eclipse Award-winning male sprinter of 2015, tops the list of 31 nominees.
The 36th running of the $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2), for fillies and mares going six furlongs on dirt, attracted 23 nominees, including 2015 race winner Fioretti. Scheduled for Oct. 8, the Thoroughbred Club of America is a Win and You’re In for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).
Also scheduled for Oct. 8 is the 20th running of the $150,000 Woodford (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select for 3-year-olds and up going 5½ furlongs on the turf. Topping the list of 48 nominees is Mongolian Saturday, winner of last year’s TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Keeneland.
Completing the Fall Stars Weekend lineup is the 26th running of the $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon (G3) for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16th miles on the turf. The race, a Win and You’re In for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), drew 64 nominations that include grass stakes winners All Right and Made You Look.
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Click here for the Fall Stars microsite, which includes a list of horses nominated to each Fall Stars stakes and their past performances. Watch race replays, review the histories of each stakes and more.
Keeneland’s 17-day Fall Meet, which runs Oct. 7-29, marks the 80th anniversary of racing at the track, which opened Oct. 15, 1936, for its inaugural nine-day season. The Fall Meet will offer a total of 17 graded stakes worth $5.275 million.
Post time for the first race each day is 1:05 p.m. ET.
During opening weekend, NBC will broadcast two “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In Series presented by Lane’s End Farm and America’s Best Racing” programs from Keeneland.
On Saturday, Oct. 8, the program from 5-6 p.m. includes the Thoroughbred Club of America, Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity and Shadwell Turf Mile. On Sunday, Oct. 9, the program from 5-6 p.m. features the Juddmonte Spinster and Dixiana Bourbon.