DEL MAR : Cee’s Tizzy Puts Trainer Into Tizzy With a Near-Record Performance

Even though the track at Del Mar has been unusually fast lately, Cee’s Tizzy’s winning time of 1:07 4/5 Monday is worth noting. It was only one-fifth of a second off the track record, set by King of Cricket in August of 1973, and it was the 3-year-old colt’s second impressive performance in the last month.

“He’s a nice horse,” said John Russell, Cee’s Tizzy’s trainer. “This is a horse I’ve been counting on.”

Last month at Hollywood Park, Cee’s Tizzy, the grandson of 5-year old champion Tizly, broke his maiden in 1:08 3/5 for six furlongs. But in his Del Mar debut--the second division of the mile-long July 25 Oceanside Stakes--Cee’s Tizzy, owned by Cecillia Staub-Rubens and ridden by Eddie Delahoussaye, fell off the pace early and finished sixth.

“He was too green a horse to ride in that long of a race,” Russell said. “That was my fault.”

Russell said Delahoussaye rode the perfect race Monday.

“Eddie is a very patient rider and he almost got us the track record,” Russell said. “The track is very hard and fast right now. I sort of owed Eddie one for a long time. He’s been a great friend and a great rider for a long time.”

Russell said Cee’s Tizzy is a potential Breeders’ Cup horse, but said he is not sure when he will run him again.

“I’m going to be very careful with him,” Russell said. “We’ll probably go seven-eighths of a mile next and then maybe a mile if he’s ready.”

The first scuffle of the meeting between jockeys occurred Monday when Alex Solis threw a couple punches at Kent Desormeaux after the fourth race. In that race, Solis thought that Desormeaux’s horse, Fareway Foli, left his horse, Chief Sassafras, too little running room.

The skirmish was quickly broken up, although both jockeys will be called in Wednesday to talk with the stewards.

With the radio sports talk-show market booming, John Hernandez figured, “Why shouldn’t there be a talk show strictly for horse racing fans?”

So Hernandez, a horse owner and a former racing publicist, began a nightly talk show for Southern California racing fans called “Thoroughbred Nightly.”

“You can make the argument that there isn’t an audience to support a nightly show, but the statistics don’t show that,” said Hernandez, whose show has been on the air for almost a year. “The mainstream talk shows do not do a very good job of covering horse racing, unless it’s (Kentucky) Derby season or Breeders’ Cup season.”

The statistics Hernandez is referring to are a daily racing audience in Southern California of 30,000, which includes satellite and track attendance.

“Thoroughbred Nightly” can be heard on K-Orange, AM 1190, in Anaheim from 8 to 9 p.m. During the Del Mar meeting, Hernandez’s show can also be heard on KCEO, AM 1000, a 1,500-watt station in Carlsbad.

The hour show consists of about 30 minutes of phone calls from what Hernandez says is a loyal audience. There also are interviews with jockeys, trainers, owners and handicappers and nightly handicapping tips from Bruno De Julio, the show’s co-host.

But Hernandez stressed that his show is not a tout show. “We’re not asking people to call a 900 line for advice,” he said. “We’re just giving good solid information for educated people.”

Trainer Ron McAnally, fresh from his first stakes victory of the Del Mar meeting, left Monday for Saratoga, where he will be inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame Thursday. McAnally’s horse, Tight Spot, held off Itsallgreektome by a nose in winning the $107,000 La Jolla Handicap Sunday.

Jockey Gary Stevens, who already has nine winning mounts at Del Mar, will also travel to Saratoga this week. He will ride Wayne Lukas’ Open Mind in the Ballerina Stakes Friday. Then on Saturday, Stevens will be at Monmouth, N.J., to ride Deposit Ticket, another Lukas horse, in the Sapling Stakes.