**This is part of a series that profiles the top New York-based contenders heading to the Breeders’ Cup. Please see the attached photo of Tizway. Credit NYRA,
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Contact: Jenny Kellner
ELMONT, N.Y. – There’s no tried and true formula for creating winners, but for Tizway, it’s been the patience of owner William Clifton plus the persistence of trainer Jim Bond that have added up to a trip to the Breeders’ Cup.
On October 3 at
“It’s a great feeling,” said Bond. “I’ve always like this horse, and it’s nice to be able to say, for a change, ‘I was right!’”
Out of the unraced Dayjur mare
The colt was next shipped up to Woodbine, where he came through with a front-running victory over the artificial surface in June – but at a cost.
“I couldn’t believe how lame he was after the race,” said Bond of Tizway, who has had foot issues throughout his career. “We had three or four veterinarians look at him. He just wasn’t right. Finally I said to Bill, ‘Time is the greatest healer,’ and we were able to give him five months off.”
Returned to racing in April, 2009 after a 10-month break, Tizway won two of his first three starts, both at a mile, by a combined margin of more than 15 lengths. Confident in the colt’s talent, Bond chose for Tizway’s first stakes the Grade 1 Whitney, in which he finished a credible fourth behind Bullsbay. Two months later, dismissed at 23-1, he earned even more respect with a third-place finish behind Summer Bird and
“He was just one level behind those horses,” said Bond, “but I also think he was getting better with age.”
Bypassing the Breeders’ Cup, Bond and Clifton thought a trip to the Grade 1 Japan Dirt Cup would be a unique opportunity to showcase the blossoming colt, but any chance to shine on an international stage vanished after Tizway lost his rider and ran off before the start of the race, and then led briefly before fading to finish 12th.
“It was a shame because he was doing so well going into the race,” said Bond. “I really thought he would have done well.”
Tizway was back in action as a 5-year-old at Aqueduct in April, winning a seven-furlong optional claimer to kick off a campaign that Bond and Clifton hoped would encompass the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, the Grade 2 Suburban, the Grade 1 Whitney and the Jockey Club Gold Cup en route to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Outfitted with glue-on shoes to assuage his foot issues, Tizway finished third, beaten just three lengths by
“It’s like a person breaking his little toe,” said Bond. “They never really heal. Sometimes, they stabilize, but we decided instead to send him to Dr. Alan Nixon at Cornell, to undergo a procedure called digital nerving, in which they cut the one nerve leading to the bone.”
Ten days later, Tizway was back galloping, but it was another two weeks before he was able to breeze.
“And you never know,” said Bond. “I had a horse named Pleasant Breeze undergo the same procedure, and he came back to win two Saratoga Cups, but until you breeze them, and see how they travel without feeling in a part of their hoof, nothing is certain.
“I was a little worried, but fortunately, he came back to full level, and showed it in the Kelso, which I think was a tremendous effort coming off a four-month layoff.”
Tizway heads into the Breeders’ Cup relatively lightly raced, with a record of 4-1-2 from nine starts in 2009 and 2010, which Bond thinks could work to his advantage.
“When setbacks happen, you’re all pouting and walking around the barn with sad faces, but things happen for a reason,” he said. “Tizway had ability at 3, was better at 4, and is coming into his own at 5. It’s a great feeling to be in this position.”
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