Tiz Flirtatious up in time in Rodeo Drive

Last updated: 9/28/13 8:35 PM

Tiz Flirtatious nipped Marketing Mix to earn her first Grade 1 and a spot in the BC Filly & Mare Turf
(Benoit Photos)

Pamela Ziebarth’s homebred Tiz Flirtatious edged defending champion and 6-5
favorite Marketing Mix in a thrilling finish to Saturday’s Grade 1, $250,500
Rodeo
Drive at Santa Anita. Both had to rally furiously to catch a
loose-on-the-lead Vionnet, but the 8-5 Tiz Flirtatious summoned a touch better
turn of foot in this course-and-distance prep for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare
Turf. Aside from earning an automatic berth to that prize, the Marty Jones mare
also recorded her first Grade 1 win.

Tiz Flirtatious is now four-for-five this campaign, with her only loss coming
by a head to Marketing Mix in the May 27 Gamely at Hollywood Park. She gained
sweet revenge on Saturday, and proved herself in her first attempt at 1 1/4
miles.

There was no clear front runner in the Rodeo Drive, but Vionnet decided to
take a page from her dam Cambiocorsa’s playbook and seized the initiative. As
the 28-1 longest shot on the board waltzed through uncontested fractions of :25
1/5, :48 4/5 and 1:12 4/5 on the firm turf, Marketing Mix was content to bide
her time in second. Starstruck was poised just off the favorite’s flank, and Tiz
Flirtatious was loping comfortably in fourth for Julien Leparoux.

Vionnet was still traveling with gusto after reaching the mile mark in 1:36
1/5, and down the stretch, she threatened to complete her grand theft. But
Marketing Mix went after her in earnest, and wider out, Tiz Flirtatious was
producing a mighty surge. The two market leaders narrowly managed to thwart the
upset-minded Vionnet in the shadow of the post, with Tiz Flirtatious getting the
verdict by a head in a blazing 1:58 4/5.

“I was like, Julien, please don’t come up short this time,” Ziebarth
commented. “Earlier in her career someone asked me, ‘is this the nicest filly
you’ve had,’ and I said Healthy Addiction would probably take that ticket but
Marty says, ‘we’re working on it,’ and I’d say she’s there now.”

“She finished strong,” Leparoux said. “She had to fight because those other
fillies did not stop. It was a good race for her and she got the Grade 1 she
deserves. I think she has a great chance for the Breeders’ Cup. We knew she was
really good but it was nice to see her handle the distance. I was a little
concerned with Victor’s (Espinoza) horse (Vionnet). Victor’s filly was running
really well, actually, the first three ran really well and finished very fast.”

Tiz Flirtatious, who was making her first start at 1 1/4 miles, benefited when the race turned into a sit-and-sprint
(Benoit Photos)

“This horse is something else,” Jones said. “She deserved this today because
she’s been so close in Grade 1s. What a feeling. I was a little hesitant there
at the top of the stretch but she got the win. Hopefully she comes out of this
race good.”

Marketing Mix’s rider Gary Stevens is looking ahead to a rematch in the
Breeders’ Cup.

“I think this set us up pretty well going forward,” the Hall of Famer said.
“She ran her race today — we just got outkicked. It was a funny-run race.
Hopefully there will be more pace in the Breeders’ Cup.”

Fourth-placer Starstruck checked in a further 2 1/4 lengths adrift of Vionnet.
Deep closers Lady of Shamrock, My Gi Gi and Topic never got involved.

Tiz Flirtatious, who paid $5.40 to win, sports a record of 12-8-3-1,
$774,800. Unraced at two, the dark bay got a belated start to her career in the
fall of her sophomore season in 2011. She wasted no time by winning her first
three races, all in California-restricted company — a maiden and allowance on
the dirt at Santa Anita and the Cat’s Cradle over Hollywood’s Cushion Track. Tiz
Flirtatious suffered her first loss when taking a class hike into Grade 2
company in the 2012 La Canada, where she finished third.

Sidelined for nearly nine months, Tiz Flirtatious made a triumphant return in
last October’s California Cup Distaff on Santa Anita’s downhill course, and she
has remained on the turf ever since. She was a closing second in both the
November 25 Matriarch and the December 30 Robert J. Frankel.

Tiz Flirtatious regained the winning thread back in restricted company in the
January 26 Valentine Dancer. She broke through with her first graded score in
the March 24 Santa Ana, and fell just shy of Marketing Mix in the aforementioned
Gamely. In her only subsequent outing, Tiz Flirtatious delivered an eye-catching
rally off a snail’s pace in the August 11 John C. Mabee at Del Mar.

The California-bred five-year-old is by Tizbud and out of the unraced Victory
Gallop mare Masquerade Belle, who is in turn a daughter of multiple stakes vixen
Time to Meet. Although her immediate family does not have an abundance of black
type, she descends from 1954 champion two-year-old filly High Voltage, dam of
1966 champion sprinter Impressive and stakes winners Bold Commander and Great
Power. High Voltage is also the ancestress of multiple Grade 1 star and
successful sire Majestic Light.

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