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Everything Falling Into Place For Tizway

Tizway (no. 5), ridden by Rajiv Maragh and trained by ???James Bond, wins the 84th running of the grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap for three year olds and upward on August 6, 2011 at Saratoga Race Track in Saratoga Springs, New York. (Bob Mayberger/Eclipse Sportswire)

Tizway, probable favorite for the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on October 1, continued his preparations for the race, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.26 this past Friday over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Race Course, the fastest of five works at the distance.

 

“He’s doing great right now,” said trainer Jim Bond. “He had a good five furlong workout and galloped out strong. The current plan is to work him next Thursday or Friday, weather permitting. In a perfect world he will have two more workouts prior to the Gold Cup.”

 

Bond, who trains the 6-year-old son of Tiznow for owner William Clifton, said that he will ship to Belmont Park the day of the race, as Tizway, “likes to sleep in his own backyard.”

 

After going 1-for-8 in graded stakes, taking last year’s Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont, Tizway has put together consecutive Grade 1 victories: a 2 ¾-length triumph in the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont on May 30, and a tour-de-force three-length score in the Whitney Invitational Handicap at Saratoga on August 6.

 

Bond has repeatedly cited the fact that Tizway is finally healthy as a key factor in his recent success, along with his ability to train him on the Oklahoma track for most of the year.

 

“When he’s healthy and you can train him hard like I can now, that’s the key,” Bond said. “This horse is a really good training horse in general, but the Oklahoma track is a bit easier on him. He fits here very well and I know what to look for. After 25-plus years of training horses here I also know what the weather will do.”

 

He also credited NYRA’s track maintenance team for keeping the surface in great condition.

 

“The track maintenance people up here do an incredible job,” Bond said. “There was so much rain last week, but the track was awesome on Friday. I have total faith in the people taking care of the track.”

 

With his victories in the Met Mile and Whitney, Tizway has vaulted to the top of the list of Horse of the Year contenders. Bond, however, remains realistic about how quickly things can change in racing.

 

“Winning Horse of the Year would be fantastic, but one thing about this game is that you never know,” Bond said. “It’s a game of inches and any day can be devastating. I just hope we make it that far. That’s the bottom line. As long as I can keep training him hard I think he will show up and do his thing.”

 

Although Tizway ran third, beaten 5 ½ lengths in the 2009 Jockey Club Gold Cup, his only career attempt going 1 ¼ miles, Bond is confident the distance won’t be a hindrance.

 

“The 2009 Jockey Club Gold Cup was against Summer Bird and Quality Road , two very good horses,” Bond said. “It poured before the race, and he was stuck down on the fence with a lot of water. I’m sold on his ability to get the distance, and someone will have to prove me wrong.”

 

 

What the Nation is saying about Everything Falling Into Place For Tizway...

Tizway will be hard to beat in the JCGC.

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