Tizway rolls to three length win in Grade 1 Whitney

Tizway took control coming into the stretch en route to a comfortable three-length victory in the $750,000 Whitney H. (G1) Aug. 6 at Saratoga. The son of Tiznow notched his second consecutive Grade 1 win and posted the second highest Beyer of the year beyond a mile, moving him to the head of the older horse division.

Tizway got the ideal trip just behind the leaders in the nine furlong Whitney. Facing a solid group of the best older horses on the East Coast, Tizway was third for the first six furlongs before moving quickly to the front just as he straightened for the stretch. Suburban H. (G2) winner Flat Out came from far back to get the place spot, but was no threat to the winner.

“It was an ideal trip,” Maragh said. “I was always close to the pace, where I wanted to be. I just trusted the horse that he could get the distance. I just rode him the same way I have always ridden him. He really picked it up at the three-eighths pole. He was definitely overpowering in the middle of the turn and he kept on going.”

As a Win and You’re In race, Tizway earned a guaranteed berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).

“He will run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) (Oct. 1 at Belmont) and then the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs). I’m as confident going 1 1/4 miles as I was going 1 1/8 miles coming here today,” winning trainer H. James Bond said.

A 6-year-old Kentucky bred, Tizway won the $500,000 Metropiolitan H. (G1) in his last outing, and now has three graded stakes to his credit, including the 2010 Kelso H. (G2). With the Whitney’s $450,000 payday, Tizway became his sire’s fifth millionaire, with lifetime total standing at $1,359,274.

Owner William Clifton, Jr. and Bond teamed up to win their second Whitney, the first coming in 1997 with Will’s Way. Bethany, the dam of Tizway, is a half-sister to Will’s Way and to the multiple Grade 1 winning filly Willa on the Move.