Tiz Dark may try Dwyer

While the connections of Intense Holiday announced the retirement of that stakes-winning 3-year-old on Tuesday due to a fractured foreleg, they may have already found his replacement for some of the summer’s important stakes in that division.

Tiz Dark, who, like Intense Holiday, is owned by Starlight Stable, won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by 6 3/4 lengths Sunday at Belmont, just four hours after Intense Holiday was injured during a workout.

The irony is in the fact that Tiz Dark and Intense Holiday were workmates as 2-year-olds last summer, when both were based at Monmouth Park.

“There was not much between them,” said Todd Pletcher, the trainer of both colts, adding that Tiz Dark “just had some baby stuff. We stopped and gave him some time.”

Pletcher said he was a little surprised that Tiz Dark was defeated in his debut here May 4 but noted that the race was fast, and the horse who beat him, Legend, was highly regarded. Coming off his maiden win Sunday, Tiz Dark, a son of Tiznow, could be pointed to an allowance race or the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer here July 5.

On Sunday, Tiz Dark covered 1 1/16 miles – the distance of the Dwyer – in 1:41.14 and earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.