Distance of Louisville hits Tiz a Slam between the eyes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Distance, more so than a modest purse, proved the prime attraction to the connections of the seven competitors in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Louisville at Churchill Downs.

Most of the entrants in the 1 1/2-mile turf race are long-distance specialists, including Tiz a Slam, a Canadian who with Maryland invader Shahroze are the two shippers in the field. A four-time stakes winner with race-best earnings of $741,759, Tiz a Slam has shown a preference for slower-paced staying contests. Last year at 4, he won the 1 1/4-mile Dominion Day at Woodbine on that track’s synthetic surface and the 1 1/2-mile Nijinsky there on turf, leading both from start to finish.

“The main thing is for him to get in a big stride, not to be checked,” said trainer Roger Attfield, who won the 2012 Louisville with Simmard.

Woodbine-based jockey Steven Bahen has the mount on Tiz a Slam, a 5-year-old son of Tiznow bred and owned by Chiefswood Stables.

Along with Louisville entrants Vettori Kin and Soglio, Tiz a Slam drops in class after last competing in the Grade 2 Elkorn on April 20 at Keeneland. He performed best of the trio over yielding ground, running fourth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths. Right behind him was Vettori Kin in fifth, followed far back by Soglio in 10th.

The performance from Soglio was far below his customary form, and trainer Mike Maker believes it was related to wet ground. Soglio had struggled over wet ground at Keeneland earlier in his career.

Six times stakes placed over his 27-race career, Soglio seeks his first stakes victory.

“He’s been very much a hard-luck horse,” Maker said.

A return to Churchill Downs, over which he was a runaway allowance winner in his only start over the grass course, figures to suit him, as it should Vettori Kin, the defending Louisville winner.

The other stakes winners in Saturday’s race are Nessy, winner of the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita in 2018; Shahroze, who took the Grade 2 Singspiel at Woodbine last summer; and Royal Artillery, a Group 3 winner in England in 2016 in the Rose of Lancaster Stakes.

The Louisville, previously a handicap, is being run under allowance conditions this year, leaving Tiz a Slam to shoulder top weight of 126 pounds while his six rivals carry 122. Post time is 4:55 p.m. Eastern, roughly two hours before the Preakness will be simulcast.