Tiz Blessed sent to Kentucky for exam

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Chad Brown said he has sent Tiz Blessed, who closed at odds of 79-1 on Sunday in the first Kentucky Derby Future wager, to Kentucky to be examined by Dr. Larry Bramlage in an attempt to discover what has been keeping the stakes-winning 3-year-old from a regular training schedule this winter.

Tiz Blessed won two of his three starts at 2, including Woodbine’s Display by 5 1/2 widening lengths. A son of Tiznow owned by Gary and Mary West, Tiz Blessed has worked six times at the Palm Meadows training center this winter but only once since Jan. 24.

“There’s just something not quite right with the horse,” Brown said. “He just definitely hasn’t been himself. He doesn’t look right behind, if I had to guess. I can’t really put a finger on it, so we decided to send him to Dr. Bramlage to see if he can discover any problem. He’s just too good of a horse to try to rush to make anything if he’s not 100 percent.”

KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail

Brown also said he’s still undecided about what will be next for his up-and-coming 3-year-old Free Entry, who has already won twice here this winter.

“He likes the track, and I’d love to run him in the Florida Derby, but that’s still seven weeks away and I don’t know if I want to wait that long,” Brown said. “We’ll nominate him everywhere, see how he breezes next week, and then make a decision, with the Rebel or Louisiana Derby perhaps being our most likely options.”