William L. Clifton, Jr.’s Tizway emerged from his smashing 2 ¼-length victory in Monday’s Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in good shape and remains on target for a start in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on August 6, trainer H. James Bond said Friday morning.
Fourth in the 2009 Whitney, Tizway has returned to his home base in Saratoga Springs and has either the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic or Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs in November as his long-race target. The Whitney will be contested at 1 1/8 miles.
“We’re trying to get a barometer on him,” said Bond. “I believe in my heart he’ll go a mile-and-a-quarter. He ran a good race in the Whitney a couple of years ago, and I think he is a better horse now.”
Bond said boosting Tizway’s value as a breeding prospect will be a factor when deciding whether to point the 6-year-old to the Classic or the Dirt Mile.
“We’ve proved he’s a mile horse, and if we can prove he can go a mile and a quarter it’d do a lot to help his value as a stallion,” said Bond.