Champion mare Tepin, in foal to Curlin, added to November Sale

Roll up, roll up! The two-time champion US turf mare Tepin is set to be offered for sale – in foal to Curlin – by her owner Robert Masterson and consignor Elite Sales at the Fasig-Tipton November Breeding Stock Sale later this year.

Though it is some claim, with nine-time Group 1 winner Songbird heading for the same catalogue, the head of Fasig-Tipton is describing the opportunity to buy Tepin as a "once-a-decade type offering".

"She captured the hearts and imagination of thoroughbred fans around the world," said Boyd Browning, president and chief executive of the sales house. "Her brilliance was only surpassed by her courage and determination to win. Tepin truly has unlimited potential as a broodmare. She is in foal on one cover to Curlin, sire of five Grade 1 winners in 2016 alone."

Elite

"My interest and my love of the sport lies in racing," said Masterson, explaining his decision to sell the mare. "My family and I wanted her breeding career to be nurtured by someone who loves that aspect of the business as much as I love the racing aspect.

"It's impossible to describe what Tepin has meant to me and my family. What happened is not believable. Everyone who races horses and who loves to do so has witnessed greatness. But never could you believe, even in your wildest dreams, that the best of the best could be yours."

"The chance to add a collector's item like this to a broodmare band is historic," said Bradley Weisbord of Elite Sales. "She is the first mare to come to public auction having won both a Breeders' Cup Mile and Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, which gives her unique worldwide appeal.

"Of the four fillies that have been Eclipse champion turf mare twice, three have produced Graded or Group winners including Kingmambo and Australia, and the fourth had daughters produce Graded or Group winners."

A winner of 11 Graded/Group races (including six Group 1s) from 23 starts, with earnings of more than $4.4 million, Tepin secured her biggest victories in the Mile at the 2015 Breeders' Cup at Keeneland and the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot a year later. In the latter race, she made history by becoming the first winner in its history trained outside Europe, and joined Goldikova as the only two mares to win both the Breeders' Cup Mile and Queen Anne.

Unimaginable

"What I will remember most is the experience of doing the impossible," added Masterson. "Travelling to Ascot, racing under totally unfamiliar conditions and doing something no American horse had done by beating the best milers in Europe on their home turf. That was something that may never be replicated. Then, to be congratulated in person by the Queen created a moment for me and my family which was unimaginable to us."

Tepin's other major victories included the Woodbine Mile, First Lady Stakes, Jenny Wiley Stakes and Just a Game Stakes. She was retired earlier this year and bred to Curlin, and soon confirmed in foal.

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