Tam Tam powers to Tepin Stakes victory at Churchill Downs

Tam Tam won the Tepin Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 27, drawing off to beat the 1-mile grass test for 3-year-old fillies by 5 3/4 lengths. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro stopped the clock in 1:35.36 on good turf and won under Junior Alvarado for trainer Phil Bauer.

Sent wide early, Tam Tam still advanced into contention before the half-mile point in :48.14, then took over when Faye's Gold began to weaken. East Jabip held second, 3/4 of a length in front of Use Me, while Tam Tam coasted home with no serious threat and paid $6.04 to win in the official chart.

Tam Tam had already finished third as the favorite in the Grade III Regret Stakes on May 30 at Churchill Downs, and the sharper mile trip in the Tepin fit her turf profile since the switch to turf at Gulfstream Park this winter. She had won two of three starts as a 3-year-old since the change, and Bauer compared her development to Buchu, a graded-stakes winner on turf.

The Tepin result pushed Tam Tam to a second stakes victory and lifted her record to 8-3-2-2, with earnings approaching $470,000. She earned $162,525 for the win, with Rigney Racing LLC listed as the winning owner and Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC as the breeder.

The Tepin Stakes honors the track’s champion female turf horse of 2015-16, a runner who defeated males in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Mile and retired with $4,437,918 in earnings. The 2026 edition was part of the Stephen Foster Stakes card, and Tam Tam’s winning time of 1:35.36 sat just off the listed Tepin Stakes record of 1:35.37 set by Xigera in 2023.