Tiznow Does His Part

Tiznow, the brilliant 3-year-old colt, answered the $500,000 question in Sunday’s Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Santa Anita. Still ahead is the $360,000 Breeders’ Cup question.

Not nominated to the $4-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4, Tiznow picked up $240,000 of that $360,000 supplementary fee by beating Captain Steve by a half-length in the Goodwood, the same race that his full brother, Budroyale, had won, under different ownership, the year before.

“It’s not the money,” said Mike Cooper, who races Tiznow in a partnership with Cee Straub-Rubens. Usually when someone says “It’s not the money,” it really is the money, but that’s not the case this time: Straub-Rubens, 83, has a racing stable that is buttressed by one of the largest beer distributing companies in Orange County.

Straub-Rubens and Cooper have until a week from today, when a preliminary payment of $120,000 is due, to make their Breeders’ Cup decision. First place in the Classic is worth $2.08 million, but most of any supplementary money would be added to the purse. Tiznow would have to finish in the first three at Churchill for his owners to profit.

“I’ve been in the horse business with [Straub-Rubens] for 19 years,” Cooper said, “and running in the Breeders’ Cup would be the thrill of a lifetime. But the horse comes first, and it will be up to [trainer] Jay Robbins, with a little advice from [jockey] Chris McCarron. We’ll watch the horse carefully the next week and then decide.”

After six starts with other jockeys, Tiznow was introduced to McCarron in August, and their three-race partnership produced a second to Skimming in the Pacific Classic and a win in the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs before Sunday’s race.

“Fortunately, the Breeders’ Cup decision is not mine to make,” McCarron said. “Over a short period of time [the trainer and the owners] have got a lot to think about, but I’ll be sitting by my telephone.”

Robbins watched the other Breeders’ Cup semifinal, Saturday’s Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. That race was also won by a 3-year-old, Albert The Great, with Lemon Drop Kid, the heavy favorite, running fifth and Fusaichi Pegasus, the Kentucky Derby winner, not running because of a foot injury.

“I think my horse would have a shot against those horses,” Robbins said, “and he’s comfortable with the mile-and-a-quarter [Classic] distance. On Saturday, I was more inclined to run in the Breeders’ Cup, but I’m less-inclined today. This was a tough race for my horse. He ran game, and when Victor Espinoza [aboard Captain Steve] was riding his horse hard at the [3 1/2-furlong pole] and not cutting into our lead, I thought we were in good shape. I didn’t think it was going to be that close, but it turned out to be pretty taxing for my horse.”

Tiznow, who was also bred by Straub-Rubens via a mating of Cee’s Tizzy and Cee’s Song, was running only two weeks after the Super Derby and became the first 3-year-old to win the Goodwood. As the favorite, he paid $4.40, running 1 1/8 miles in 1:47 1/5. Euchre ran third, beaten by two lengths in a field of seven.

Trainer Bob Baffert, who also finished second in last year’s Goodwood with General Challenge after winning with Silver Charm the year before, has a $290,000 decision with Captain Steve, who also wasn’t nominated to the Breeders’ Cup.

Budroyale, lost on a $32,000 claim to trainer Ted West before he went on to earn more than $2.5 million, ran second to Cat Thief in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“I didn’t nominate Tiznow [for $500 as a foal] because Budroyale was only running for [low] claiming prices at the time,” Cooper said. “I made a calculated risk and now it makes me look foolish. They are different horses, not much alike, but if Tiznow runs in the Breeders’ Cup, I hope he shows us Budroyale’s heart.”

Notes

Laffit Pincay rode two winners, putting him within nine of the 9,000 mark. Pincay has four mounts on Wednesday. . . . Mutafaweq, ridden by Frankie Dettori for Sheik Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing, nosed out Williams News in the $1.5 million Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine. Favored Daliapour was third and Lycitus, ridden by Gary Stevens, finished seventh. . . . At Keeneland, She’s A Devil Due beat Nasty Storm by a head, with Cash Deal third, in the $400,000 Walmac International Alcibiades, and Katz Me If You Can won the $100,000 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes. . . . Stakes winners at Belmont Park included King Cugat, by a nose, over Mandarin Mash in the $200,000 Jamaica Handicap; Fistfite in the $100,000 Cowdin; and Xtra Heat, who outfinished previously undefeated Gold Mover in the $100,000 Astarita.