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Tizway out of Classic, retired due to injury

Bond said Tizway is the best horse he has ever trained (NYRA/Adam Coglianese) Tizway, an easy winner of the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap and Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in his last two starts, will miss the Breeders' Cup Classic due to an injury and has been retired. Trainer H. James Bond said a suspensory ligament injury was discovered Tuesday morning. "This breaks my heart," Bond said. "This is the best horse that I have ever trained and I just wanted to show the rest of the world what he really was. He was training brilliantly." Tizway won the Met Mile in the second-fastest time in the history of the race, 1:32.90, and beat a tough field in the Whitney to become a top candidate for the Classic and Horse of the Year. He was kept out of the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on October 1 after missing a work because of a fever and was being trained up to the Breeders' Cup.

The six-year-old son of two-time Classic winner Tiznow was scheduled to have his final work for the Classic on Wednesday morning over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Springs, New York. Bond had planned to ship the horse to Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.

Bond said some heat was detected just above the horse's left front ankle after the routine morning gallop. A veterinarian scanned the area and confirmed the injury.

"The bottom line is that it's too risky to run him," Bond said. "The doctors said it was borderline, but I am not going to take a chance with a stud career in front of him. He galloped a mile this morning and looked great. The track was perfect. It was just bad luck. It's sad because I wanted him to have the chance to prove to everyone that he was the best horse in the world."

Owned by William Clifton, Tizway battled minor injuries throughout the course of his career, taking six starts to break his maiden. He recorded his first stakes tally with a five-length romp in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park last fall and went on to finish fifth in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

The Kentucky-bred dark bay opened this year with a pair of thirds in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap and Grade 3 Charles Town Classic, and then registered a career-best 113 BRIS Speed rating for his 2 3/4-length score in the Met Mile. He rolled to a three-length decision over Classic contender and eventual Jockey Club Gold Cup victor Flat Out in the Whitney.

"He is the most accomplished horse I have ever ridden," said jockey Rajiv Maragh, who was aboard for Tizway's final 14 starts. "His record speaks for itself. He has three or four big wins that can match up to some of the greatest horses that have ever raced in New York. His Met Mile performance was amazing. His Whitney and Kelso were amazing. His best race is as good as any horse that I have ever sat on."

Tizway moves into retirement with a record of 7-1-5 and earnings of $1,359,274 from a 20-race career. He is scheduled to begin stud duties at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington, Kentucky, in 2012.

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