Tizway, who would have been the likely favorite for the Grade 1,
$750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup 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,” said
trained James Bond. “We treated him, but to work him at 70 percent, run
in a tough race like the [Jockey Club] Gold Cup, and then run in the
Breeders’ Cup Classic would be unfair to the horse.”
Bond, who trains the 6-year-old son of Tiznow for owner William
Clifton, said that he is still on schedule for a start in the Breeders’
Cup Classic.
“He has been training brilliantly and will be ready to go a mile
and a quarter on November 5 [in the Breeders’ Cup],” 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.
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 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. He
is a leading contender for Horse of the Year honors.