Tiznow Retains Classic Look

In the paddock at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert saw his jockey, Corey Nakatani, with his whip and said: “Didn’t you get my message? We need a magic wand, not a whip.”

Nakatani, who had already won three races on Saturday’s card, was riding Wooden Phone for Baffert in the $190,800 San Fernando Breeders’ Cup Stakes, the race that marked the 2001 debut for Tiznow, the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and soon to be named 2000’s horse of the year.

This was supposed to be the day when Tiznow would be especially vulnerable: Short on training, battling foot problems in both forelegs, breaking from the outside post position and running at a distance that’s not his best.

But Nakatani and the other jockeys would have needed mystical incantations as well as magic wands. Tiznow raced just behind Wooden Phone much of the way, then unleashed a powerful move on the stretch turn. The California-bred 4-year-old and Wooden Phone brushed slightly in midstretch, before Tiznow pulled away to win by 1 1/4 lengths. Walkslikeaduck, running on the inside, made the lead at the eighth pole while Tiznow and Wooden Phone were sparring, and he was the second-place finisher, three-quarters of a length clear of Nakatani’s horse.

In the box seats, Jay Robbins exhaled for the first time in a week.

“There was more pressure this time than in the Breeders’ Cup,” Tiznow’s trainer said. “In the Breeders’ Cup, there was no pressure at all, because we were 9-1. I’m just glad he came back in good shape.”

The sun came out after three days--and about four inches--of rain, and by the third race Saturday, the track condition was upgraded from good to fast. There was little pre-race discussion between Robbins and his jockey, Chris McCarron, about whether Tiznow would run. Robbins, 55, has a bead on winning the Strub Stakes for the third time, and he needed the San Fernando to get Tiznow ready for the 1 1/8-mile assignment Feb. 3.

Bill Shoemaker, from his wheelchair, watched Saturday as McCarron rode his seventh San Fernando winner, one short of Shoemaker’s record. Judy McCarron and her husband also used the day to renew vows and celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.

The blossoming of Tiznow started last summer, not long after he had broken his maiden May 31 at Hollywood Park, and McCarron took over as his jockey for a second-place finish in the Pacific Classic on Aug. 26. Since then, they’ve combined for four consecutive wins.

“He got away well this time, then used his natural speed,” McCarron said. “At the three-eighths pole, the pace quickened, and then by the three-sixteenths he was in high gear and I was very confident.”

With the field reduced to six by five scratches, Tiznow paid $2.60 to win, running 1 1/16 miles in 1:42. For his sixth win in 10 starts, Tiznow earned $98,880 to swell his purses to $3,544,830. Among Cal-breds, only Best Pal, with $5.6 million, has earned more.

Cee Straub-Rubens, the breeder and co-owner of Tiznow, died at 83 three days after the Breeders’ Cup, and the colt is now campaigned by her partner, Mike Cooper, and her son Kevin Cochrane and daughter Pamela Ziebarth.

“We miss her,” Cooper said. “She was probably looking down on us today. This horse was her boy. The horse showed a lot of character in this one. He likes a mile and a quarter better than this distance.”

Because of the muddy track, Robbins jogged Tiznow for two days instead of galloping him into the race.

“The track was in great shape [Saturday],” Robbins said. “It probably helped his foot problems because it had a good cushion. I’m relieved. I should be able to train him more going into the next race.”

Walkslikeaduck, the Del Mar and Bay Meadows Derby winner who was back on dirt for the first time since June, gave trainer Paddy Gallagher--once Shoemaker’s assistant--and jockey Eddie Delahoussaye a solid effort.

“Tiznow is just a superior horse,” Gallagher said. “Now we’ve got our options--dirt or grass. But we’ll keep him away from Tiznow, that’s one option.”

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Trainer Darrell Vienna, who’s never saddled a Kentucky Derby starter, is a realist. He’ll make no reservations for Louisville in May just because he’s got an undefeated 3-year-old in January.

“I’m not excited about the Derby,” Vienna said after Lasersport’s two-length win in the $107,500 San Miguel Stakes. “This horse will have to do more before I’ll even think about it. The logical thing is to find a mile race for him next. If he wins at a mile or more, then maybe I’ll get excited.”

Lasersport’s six-furlong time of 1:08 3/5 was two-fifths of a second slower than the San Miguel record. After winning his first two races in Kentucky, the colt was making his first start for Vienna and his client, Bill Herrick of Carlsbad, who bought the horse for a price he said was in the “medium six figures.”

Lasersport is a son of Gilded Time, whom Vienna trained when he won the 1992 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and finished third in the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“It’s suspect how far [Lasersport] will go,” Vienna said. “With his sire, there’s a bias toward shorter distances. None of the other Gilded Times I’ve had could run much, but I’ve only had one or two.”

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In Northern California, the Herrick-Vienna team fared poorly, their Moisuisatoi finishing last on a muddy track in the $150,000 Golden Gate Derby. The winner, Hoovergetthekeys, who was 15-1, survived a foul claim by trainer Jenine Sahadi, whose Media Mogul finished third. High Cascade, the 8-5 favorite, was second, beaten by three lengths.

Notes

With Laffit Pincay also winning three races, he and Corey Nakatani accounted for two-thirds of the wins on the nine-race card. . . . Echo Eddie, trained by Darrell Vienna, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in today’s Sensational Star Handicap. . . . Follow The Money, winner of the Dahlia Handicap at Hollywood Park on Dec. 9, is the 119-pound high weight for Monday’s $150,000 San Gorgonio Handicap. . . . Next for Freedom Crest, the San Pasqual Handicap winner, is the $300,000 San Antonio Handicap on Feb. 4. . . . American Halo, who paid $60.20, beat favored Vision And Verse by a head to win the $103,000 Skip Away Handicap at Gulfstream Park.