Photo Call beats Tepin in First Lady Stakes at Keeneland

Tepin suffered a shock defeat as Photo Call won the First Lady Stakes at Keeneland.

The Mark Casse-trained Tepin was sent off an odds-on favourite for the Grade One event after notching up eight wins on the bounce, including the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

Tepin broke well enough in the mile event, being settled in third by Julien Leparoux as Photo Call was pushed into an early lead by Kent Desormeaux, building up a healthy advantage that she still maintained turning for home.

Tepin then tried to make her move at the top of the straight and while she was cutting the deficit with every stride, the post came in time for Photo Call to hang on for a famous success.

British raider Nemoralia and Irish-trained contender Now Or Never finished fourth and eighth respectively.

Casse's son and assistant Norman felt Tepin ran well enough in defeat, with a defence of her Breeders' Cup Mile title still firmly on connections' minds.

He told NBC: "I still think she ran really well. The horse got loose on the lead, brave up front, and we may have left her a little bit too much to do.

"But the goal is to win the Breeders' Cup Mile again and I think we're still on point. We will regroup and move forward from here.

"We will come back and evaluate, she will have to breeze well coming in, but this was a race we were kind of giving her today. I thought she ran really hard at Woodbine (last time out) and we didn't really crank her up for this one, so I guess that's what happened today."

"We hoped for the best, but this is why we picked this race in particular. We didn't really want to run her 'A' race. The goal has always been the Breeders' Cup Mile, a repeat there.

"I haven't lost any confidence in her, I think we are still set up to do that and she'll move forward from this race.

"At the top of the lane you could tell that (Photo Call) had too much of a lead and she kicked away. I just think (Photo Call) got away from us a little bit and that's all it is. This is horse racing.

"I don't think Tepin ran disrespectfully, she ran a good race. I just think the other horse had a better trip and things went her way and we got beat."

Miss Temple City won the Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes as David O'Meara's Mondialiste could finish only fourth.

Mondialiste was last seen when winning the Arlington Million in America in August and he was among the favourites for this mile event.

However, while he came with a late charge, Mondialiste had to settle for minor honours as Miss Temple City repelled the late flourish of Ironicus in the Grade One heat.

Tudhope said: "We were ready and steady. He ran a good race. There were no excuses."