Slew's Tiz Whiz begins campaign with new rider
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Slew’s Tiz Whiz, a Tom Wenzel trainee who won the 2022 Longacres Mile before finishing a very respectable third in the two subsequent editions, will make his seasonal debut in a $25,000 allowance going six furlongs Saturday at Emerald Downs.
Race 7 will be the 7-year-old gelding’s first start since finishing second in a similar allowance last August, but months-long layoffs are de rigueur for the versatile grandson of Tiznow. He’s spent his career at the Auburn, Wash., track, posting a stellar 9-5-4 line in 24 starts.
“He’s always had winters off, so I always have a fresh horse,” Wenzel said. “Slew’s worked really good this year leading into this race. I’m pretty confident he’ll show up and run. First race of the year, is this our main goal? Of course not, but I do think he’ll run decent.”
There’s a very good chance that Slew’s Tiz Whiz will go off favored, but the race does not come without some potential hazards. Jockey Jose Zunino has retired after riding the horse in his last 21 races, leaving Julien Couton to pick up the mount.
“He’s always been a pretty patient rider, and that’s the type of rider Slew needs,” Wenzel said of Couton and his horse, who likes to come from behind. Still, Wenzel added that the jockey switch will “be a little new territory for Slew.”
Then there’s the weather. There’s rain in the forecast for Saturday, and while Slew’s Tiz Whiz has won 1 of 2 races in the slop, that victory came at age 3. Last year, he finished fourth in the slop against similar company – including wire-to-wire winner Papa’s Golden Boy, who joins Slew’s Tiz Whiz in this eight-horse field.
“He’s an okay off-track horse but probably not at his best,” Wenzel conceded. “He’s got a little bigger feet, and that doesn’t always translate to good mud horses.”
While Papa’s Golden Boy looms a threat in the mud, the 9-year-old regressed off that win last June. The deep closer Naval Escort is another who could figure prominently on a wet track, having come from behind to dominate September’s Muckleshoot Tribal Classic under those same conditions by 8 3/4 lengths. There, Papa’s Golden Boy set a scorching pace and had the lead heading into the stretch before tiring late to finish a well-beaten last of five.
Trainer David Martinez will be equipping 7-year-old Naval Escort with blinkers Saturday for the first time since 2022.
Another entrant, Executive Chef, is a horse who Wenzel says “always shows up,” and he’s not wrong. The Blaine Wright trainee has won five of his last eight, finishing second each time he didn’t cross the wire first. The 6-year-old absolutely adores Emerald, finishing first six times and second four times in 13 career starts.
While the Emerald meet is young, Wright has emerged as the early leader in the trainer standings, going 6-3-3 in 16 races heading into Saturday. On Sunday, Wright enjoyed the third four-win day of his career at Emerald, previously reaching that milestone on July 15, 2018, and May 14, 2023.
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