Slew's Tiz Whiz needs to stay in touch with the field early
Slew’s Tiz Whiz will appreciate the class relief when he runs in a nonwinners-of-two or Washington-bred nonwinners-of-three allowance race Sunday at Emerald Downs and will be tough to beat if he can stay in touch early in the 6 1/2-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up.
The race drew seven horses and is the ninth race on a 10-race card that begins at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.
Trained by Tom Wenzell, Slew’s Tiz Whiz is coming off a third-place finish in the $50,000 Muckleshoot Derby on Aug. 29. With Jose Zunino aboard, he was 13 lengths behind the leaders at the half-mile mark in the 1 1/16-mile race. After moving to within 10 lengths at the six-furlong call, he finished with a rush and lost to Top Executive and Coastal Kid, who finished a head apart, by just 1 1/2 lengths.
The 71 Beyer Speed Figure he received is his career best and the top last-race figure in the field. The Washington-bred son of Slew’s Tiznow went into the Muckleshoot Derby off a win with the same conditions as this race, but restricted to 3-year-olds. He wasn’t nearly as far behind early in that one-mile race before taking control in the stretch.
Slew’s Tiz Whiz displayed plenty of speed when he set fast fractions on his way to an 8 3/4-length romp in a $15,000 maiden claimer in his first start of the year.
He will break from post 2 with Zunino retaining the mount.
There is no pure speed in the field, so whichever horse gets his head in front early could be the winner. That could be Temple Secret, who forced the issue before winning a maiden special weight race in his first start of the year for trainer Frank Lucarelli on July 17.
The Kentucky-bred 5-year-old gelding by Temple City followed up his victory with a third-place finish at this level. Temple Secret broke alertly in the six-furlong dash, and after stalking a contested pace he finished well from along the rail. Given the shape of this race, it would not be surprising to see Heribert Martinez ask him for his best when he breaks from post 4.
The Sharon Ross-trained Perfect Dude could be sitting on a big effort in the third start of his comeback. The 5-year-old Washington-bred son of Majesticperfection won the $50,000 Seattle Slew in his final start of 2019, and after not racing in 2020 he showed brief speed before tiring going six furlongs at this level Aug. 12.
He came back to finish third going a mile in a similar race Sept. 4 and should be set up perfectly for this sprint with Alex Anaya riding.
Time ’n Time Again, third for trainer Kay Cooper going six furlongs at this level Aug. 28, could be dangerous with blinkers going on.