SARATOGA SPRINGS — Tizway, coming off a tour-de-force score going a mile in the May 30 Metropolitan Handicap, seized clear control in the battle for the nation’s champion older horse with a courageous victory in yesterday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap at the Old Spa.
Trained by Jim Bond and ridden by Rajiv Maragh, Tizway tracked the early pace duel between Friend Or Foe and Morning Line through easy splits of :24.31, :49.11 and 1:13.85. He bid for the lead with a strong outside move on the far turn, opened up at the top of the stretch and kept pouring it on down the stretch, outrunning the late bid of Suburban winner Flat Out to win the Whitney by three lengths in 1:52.43 for the 1 miles. A six-year-old son of Tiznow, Tizway paid $10.20 as the favorite in a stellar field of 11 veterans.
“Rajiv rode him just tremendous,” Bond said. “[Tizway] was in his rockin’ mode. He’s got a high cruising speed, and an endless supply of oxygen. He just gets down, and look out.”
The Whitney is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “win and you’re in” event, which guarantees Tizway a berth in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, a 1 1/4 -mile race his sire won back-to-back. Right now, Tizway is arguably the leading contender for Horse of the Year; a Classic victory would seal that honor.
“There’s one big hurdle, and that’s 1 1/4 miles,” Bond said. “I’m as confident going 1 1/4 miles as I was going 1 miles coming here today.”
A half-hour earlier on a gray, hazy day, the blazing yellow silks of Turbulent Descent provided a beacon of sunshine for chalk-players in the 86th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Test Stakes. Favored at 4-5, the three-year-old daughter of Congrats accelerated like a Maserati around the turn and drove clear through the stretch under David Flores to win by 3¾ lengths.
There was a scramble for the early lead as Pomeroys Pistol broke on top, then Roman Treasure came up the inside to assume control, but she was soon joined by American Lady, the first quarter-mile in a reasonable 23.02 seconds. Roman Treasure emerged with a clear lead into the turn through a half in 45.85 seconds, but Turbulent Descent, rebounding from her second-place finish at 3-5 in the Acorn on Belmont Stakes Day, was on the move.
She collared Roman Treasure at the top of the stretch, dueled with her for a few strides, then kicked clear to complete the seven furlongs in a tepid 1:24.17.
“She’s just absolutely . . . it’s a breathtaking race,” said her trainer, Mike Puype. “She’ll take on any horse out there at this distance.”
Yesterday’s $500,000 guaranteed pick 4 blew up in the faces of a lot of bettors immediately when 24-1 Trix in the City won the first leg, the $75,000 De La Rose for fillies and mares going a mile on the inner turf.
Trained by Rick Violette, the five-year-old Friends Lake mare was a red-board special: Last August, she won gate to wire over this same course at this same distance. Seeking to duplicate that victory, Shaun Bridgmohan — who used to Violette’s go-to rider when he was based in New York — sent Trix in the City to the front and quickly opened daylight.
Loose on the lead through a legitimate pace of 23.91 and 47.38 seconds, Trix in the City had plenty left when Tapitsfly came after her on the far turn and spurted away at the top of the stretch, then coasted home in 1:34.27 to pay $50.50 topping a $272 exacta.
“She’s a high-cruising-speed filly,” Violette said. “She has no real kick, she just keeps going and going. When they left her alone the first quarter mile, I said to myself, ‘This is very cool.’ Sometimes it just works in your favor.”
