9/24/11
Last updated: 9/23/11 5:25 PM
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Tizway will enter the BC Classic off a three-month layoff
(Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos) |
Metropolitan H. (G1) and Whitney Invitational H. (G1) hero TIZWAY (Tiznow),
who would have been the likely favorite for the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup
(G1) on October 1 at Belmont Park, will miss the race due to a fever that he
developed on Thursday, causing him to skip a scheduled Friday workout.
“He spiked a fever on Thursday and was lethargic,” trainer James Bond said.
“We treated him, but to work him at 70 percent, run in a tough race like the
Gold Cup, and then run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) would be unfair to the
horse.”
Bond said that William Clifton’s colorbearer is still on schedule for a start
in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.
“He has been training brilliantly and will be ready to go a mile and a
quarter on November 5 (in the Classic),” said Bond, who added that if there is
too much bad weather at Saratoga Race Course, where Tizway is stabled, he will
ship him to Belmont to train.
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Tizway will breeze next Thursday or Friday and be on a seven- or eight-day
workout pattern leading up to the Breeders’ Cup, according to Bond.
After going 1-for-8 in graded stakes, taking last year’s Kelso H. (G2) at
Belmont, Tizway has put together consecutive Grade 1 victories: a 2 3/4-length
triumph in the Metropolitan at Belmont on May 30, and a tour-de-force
three-length score in the Whitney at Saratoga on August 6. He is a leading
contender for champion older male and on the short list for Horse of the Year
honors.
