NEWS
Tiz classically superior now
Posted: Wednesday, November 01, 2000
California-bred Tiznow holds off Giant's Causeway and scrambles Horse of the Year picture
Trainer Jay Robbins said he knew it last March. Co-owner Michael Cooper said he was sure of it two days before the 17th running of the Breeders' Cup on November 4.
Greatness hovered around their massive three-year-old colt Tiznow. Not the kind of greatness that is measured by the number of dollars spent in sales rings or by the glitter of the pedigree, which in this case features the somewhat obscure sire Cee's Tizzy and the mare Cee's Song, winner of one race in 18 starts.
Rather, they knew Tiznow possessed a fierce determination to win, to repel the most persistent challenges, to run long, and hard, and often. They knew that deep within his strapping bay chest beat the heart of a once-in-a-lifetime kind of horse.
And so, when Tiznow, sent off as the 9.20-to-1 fifth choice in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), dueled for the early lead and then repulsed the surging European superstar Giant's Causeway, Robbins and Cooper probably were the two people least surprised in the crowd of 76,043 at Churchill Downs.
"I always had high expectations from day one, although I never thought he'd win this in only his ninth career start," Robbins, 54, said, noting the colt had not even made his racing debut seven months ago. "In March, I told my wife, Sandra, that we had the best three-year-old in the country-even though no one had seen him yet."
Cooper and breeder and co-owner Cecilia Straub-Rubens were so confident that they paid a $360,000 supplementary fee to enter Tiznow into the Classic, helping boost the purse to the second-richest in the history of the event, $4,296,040.
They had no qualms about the demanding 11Ú4-mile Classic being the colt's third grueling race in only 35 days, following his track-record triumph in the Super Derby (G1) and a front-running win in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (G2).
For Cooper, the defining moment of the season appeared in the gray morning light of November 2, when Tiznow strode purposely from his barn at Churchill toward the track for a gallop.
"There were a lot of photographers out at the gap and he put on the brakes and stood there for five minutes. He wouldn't move because he loves the attention," Cooper recalled. "He's a champion who knows he's a champion."
Jockey Chris McCarron admitted he was worried when he saw the determined head of Giant's Causeway looming to his outside, but he said he never panicked because he was full of confidence in Tiznow. He lavished praise on the colt as a "true fighter."
"He's right up there with the best of them," McCarron said, comparing Tiznow to other great horses he has ridden, including Breeders' Cup Classic winners and champions Alysheba and Sunday Silence. "For a horse to have accomplished what he has done in such a short period of time is really impressive."
When the sun began to slip from the mostly cloudy and brisk day, Tiznow had earned a place in history as the first California-bred to win a Breeders' Cup race after 49 previous starters failed, including his older brother Budroyale, who finished a game second in last year's Classic. And Tiznow also had turned the Horse of the Year contest upside down.
Clipping Pegasus's wings
The Classic was supposed to have been the going away party for Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Fusaichi Pegasus, the Mr. Prospector colt purchased as a yearling for $4-million by Fusao Sekiguchi. After holding a prolonged bidding party this summer, Sekiguchi sold breeding rights to Coolmore and Shadai Farm for a record $60-million to $70-million, and the Classic was to be Fusaichi Pegasus's last race before heading to Ashford Stud near Versailles, Kentucky.
After finishing second in the Preakness Stakes (G1), Fusaichi Pegasus had run only once in five months, winning the Jerome Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park.
Also making his final track appearance was Jeanne Vance's potential older champion male Lemon Drop Kid, who had been syndicated for $30-million to stand at Lane's End near Versailles, Kentucky, next year. If he won the Classic, the deal would have been sweetened to $40-million.
With those dollars and championships on the line, the Classic shaped up as one of the better battles in the race's history. Three-year-olds Albert the Great, conqueror of Lemon Drop Kid in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), and Captain Steve, who had defeated Tiznow in the Swaps Stakes (G1) before losing to him in the Goodwood, had to be respected.
And then there was Giant's Causeway, a three-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Storm Cat who had raced exclusively in Europe and thus was an unknown quantity on dirt. It was clear, however, that he had earned his nickname the "Iron Horse" while scoring five consecutive Group 1 wins this year for owners Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor.
When the field of 13 approached the starting gate, the usually rambunctious Fusaichi Pegasus loaded calmly. His demeanor in the paddock and post parade had been almost serene. Trainer Neil Drysdale stood alone for a moment, watching the 1.20-to-1 favorite like a parent seeing off his only son to college, nervously clutching his binoculars.
Giant's Causeway balked at the gate and had to be blindfolded to be loaded, delaying the start. Once the gate sprang open, however, the three-year-olds quickly assumed command, which they would not relinquish.
Thrill of a lifetime
Breaking from the 12th post, with Giant's Causeway on his outside, Tiznow bounded out to challenge Albert the Great for the early lead. Giant's Causeway was close behind them although five wide around the first turn, with Lemon Drop Kid close behind.
Tiznow led the field through fractions of :23.52 and :47.55, but Jorge Chavez sent Albert the Great, on the rail, to a head advantage after six furlongs in 1:12.01 on a track that had been burning fast. But Tiznow, his ears flicking back and forth, was enjoying himself and he dispatched Albert the Great with ease as they rounded the far turn.
That is when Giant's Causeway, with jockey Michael Kinane whipping and driving, rolled up on the outside, getting to within a head of Tiznow. Waiting until midstretch, McCarron hit Tiznow with a right-handed whip three times, then switched the stick to his left hand and waited again. About 70 yards from the wire, he popped the colt on the shoulder twice.
Tiznow appeared to be edging away at the wire, although the official margin of victory was a neck. The time of 2:00.75 was the fastest of five runnings of the race at Churchill Downs.
It was a day of sophomore success, with Captain Steve rallying from far back after being steadied in the hurly-burly of the first turn for third, 31Ú4 lengths behind Giant's Causeway, and Albert the Great holding on for fourth, a head back. Lemon Drop Kid finished fifth, followed by Fusaichi Pegasus-never a factor-in sixth. Defending Classic champion Cat Thief-winless since his victory at Gulfstream Park last year-was seventh after being bounced off the rail on the first turn. Vision and Verse, Gander, Pine Dance, Dust On the Bottle, Guided Tour, and Golden Missile completed the order of finish.
"It was very exciting-the thrill of a lifetime," McCarron said. "This never gets old; I had a ton of horse at the three-eighths pole. He's a very, very game horse."
Said Robbins, who trains only about ten horses but has saddled such good runners as Grade 1 winner Flying Continental: "I looked up and saw the fractions and thought he should have plenty left. I was curious to see how he would handle Giant's Causeway, but I thought he could do it."
Cooper said, "This is the most exciting thing that has happened to me since my daughter was born 24 years ago."
Tabor, part of the Coolmore partnership that will stand Giant's Causeway in Ireland next year, also was excited, rushing to the track to place his hand reverently on the chestnut's heaving flank. "What a race!" Tabor exclaimed to Kinane, who said, "I thought I was going to win. ... He's just an amazing horse."
When asked about the huge investment in the disappointing Fusaichi Pegasus, who finished unplaced for the first time in his career, Tabor said, "He won the Kentucky Derby, so you can't take that away from him."
Bumped by Guided Tour and steadied on the first turn, Fusaichi Pegasus became "confused," jockey Kent Desormeaux said. "He came off the bridle when it was time to go," Desormeaux told Drysdale.
"He got banged around a little bit and there wasn't as much pace as we thought there would be," Drysdale said. "It's been a long campaign."
In fact, the colt concluded his career after only nine starts-the same number run by Tiznow, who will campaign again next year.
Trainer Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer said Lemon Drop Kid "didn't run like he usually does" and still should be voted Horse of the Year.
A permanent marriage
Cooper and Straub-Rubens, 83, own only seven mares in addition to Cee's Song and Cee's Tizzy, a stakes-placed son of Relaunch. The breeding of Tiznow and Budroyale, who was claimed from them after his first start, was "just lucky," said Cooper.
Since the mating of Cee's Tizzy with Cee's Song has proved so successful, Cooper said, "We're going to permanently marry them." Straub-Rubens and Cooper, the manager of her family trust, own a yearling full brother to Tiznow and a two-year-old full sister named Tizsweet.
Although exhilarated with the Classic triumph, Cooper and Robbins did not immediately proclaim Tiznow as a year-end champion.
But McCarron had no doubts. Praising exercise rider Ramon Arciga and groom Carlos Aguilar for their work with the huge colt, who "is a handful" and was known for "dropping riders in the mornings," McCarron said, "Come on, Jay," to Robbins. "He's Horse of the Year."
A stress fracture suffered last fall delayed Tiznow's racing debut until April 22, when he was unplaced. Since breaking his maiden on May 31 at Hollywood Park, however, he has sparkled brightly-winning the Affirmed Handicap (G3) over eventual Haskell Invitational Handicap (G1) winner Dixie Union in July, then following up his second in the Swaps with a second to older Skimming in the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1). He defeated Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Commendable in the Super Derby before his determined Goodwood and Classic efforts.
"He's a real competitor," Robbins said. "He loves this game. And if he's like his older brother Budroyale, he's only going to get better."
Michele MacDonald is executive news editor of Thoroughbred Times.
