Taming Tiznow Can Be Classic Problem

Last Sunday night, Tiznow hadn’t quite driven trainer Jay Robbins to drink, but the veteran California horseman made a trip to a liquor store just the same.

“I got there too late,” Robbins said Thursday. “They had already closed.”

Then came Monday morning, and Robbins, like most trainers, was due at Tiznow’s barn very early, well before any New York liquor store would open. The 4-year-old colt doesn’t know it, but Robbins’ poor timing saved Tiznow from a breakfast that would have started with a hearty belt of vodka. Had that happened, they could have changed Tiznow’s name to W.C. Fields before he ran at Belmont Park Saturday in the $4-million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“He’s given us a lot of problems in the mornings for some time now,” Robbins said of Tiznow, winner of last year’s Classic at Churchill Downs. “I thought the vodka might act like a tranquilizer. But we just decided to let him take his time getting from the barn to the track, and that appears to be working. He won’t need the vodka.”

Having finished his last serious workout at Santa Anita before he was flown here, Tiznow has been galloping daily as he prepares for the third start of a comeback that has been marked by two third-place finishes, in the Woodward at Belmont on Sept. 8 and in the Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita a month later. Freedom Crest, longshot winner of the Goodwood, and Albert The Great, who ran second in the Woodward, are also running in the 11/4-mile Classic. Aptitude is the 2-1 favorite on the morning line; Tiznow, first California-bred to ever win a Breeders’ Cup race, is at 5-1, the third choice. He sneaked up on the opposition a year ago, paying $20.40 to win.

The Woodward was Tiznow’s first start in six months, since he won the Santa Anita Handicap in March. A sore back was slow to come around, and for a time retirement was considered by Mike Cooper, who manages the horse for the estate of Cecilia Straub-Rubens, the breeder and original owner of the horse. Straub-Rubens cheered him to victory in Kentucky and died two days after the 2000 Classic was run.

“Although his last race was hard to figure,” Robbins said, “I’m fairly confident going into this one. I’m glad he drew an outside post [No. 10 in a 13-horse field]. He’ll probably be in the first flight of horses early.”

Last year, Tiznow led all the way, holding off the Irish horse, Giant’s Causeway, by a neck at the wire.

Asked for specifics about considering vodka to soothe his recalcitrant morning worker, Robbins said:

“It’s not a new remedy. It’s been around for maybe 50 years. Wine too. Some trainers have given their horses wine to settle them down.”

Vodka on Monday and racing on Saturday would have given Tiznow enough time to clear his system of the alcohol. It probably wouldn’t have made any difference. There may not be a post-race drug test around that checks for alcohol.

Robbins’ father, Jack Robbins, is virtually retired as a veterinarian after a distinguished career. When he was active, Robbins treated John Henry, a two-time horse of the year, among other standouts.

At Tiznow’s barn Thursday, the elder Robbins confirmed what his son said: A trainer would be breaking no new ground by giving his horse a few snorts of vodka.

“Gin can work too,” Jack Robbins said.

He remembers a prominent stallion in California who one breeding season suddenly lost interest in his mares. Wouldn’t breed to them for anything. They tried everything but soft lights and Frank Sinatra ballads.

“We gave him 12 ounces of gin through a tube one day,” Robbins said. “He went right to the next mare and did what he had to do. Then right afterwards he fell over, but he was all right after that.”

As for John Henry, his influence has also been partly responsible for Tiznow’s better attitude toward his morning exercises. Chris McCarron, who won eight stakes with John Henry, has been aboard Tiznow for his last nine starts, including five wins and the victory in last year’s Breeders’ Cup.

“Chris remembered what they did with John Henry,” Jay Robbins said. “And to a certain extent, Alysheba [winner of the 1988 Classic], another horse he rode. Those horses would go to the track in the mornings if you just let them take their time, pretty much doing what they wanted to do along the way. Chris suggested that we try that with Tiznow, and it’s working.”

Tiznow showed none of his unreasonable behavior last year, but Robbins said that as a 2-year-old, long before his first race, he was also a problem.

“This horse was tough then,” Robbins said. “He was so tough that we almost gelded him. Then this year, he seemed to have taken on some of those old personality quirks.”

At Santa Anita not long ago, Tiznow kicked Robbins’ stable pony as the colt was being led on to the track.

“He’s OK,” Robbins said. “We didn’t bring him here. We’re using one of [trainer Shug McGaughey’s] ponies. Mine did need three or four stitches in his left hind leg. I’m just glad these things only happen in the morning. On the track, he’s a different horse. He’s all business then.”