Tiz Dashing surges past Noble Confessor in Hill Prince for first stakes victory
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Tiz Dashing pushed past resurgent pacesetter Noble Confessor to become a stakes winner Saturday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Hill Prince at Aqueduct. He won by a neck over Noble Confessor, while it was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third to Church and State.
The Hill Prince was a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds.
Tiz Dashing ($17.46) was content to settle in fourth off Noble Confessor, who dictated fractions of 23.34 seconds for the opening quarter, 48.46 for the half-mile and 1:12.37 for six furlongs. Tiz Dashing came three wide into the stretch and caught Noble Confessor, who came on again nearing the wire. But Tiz Dashing held his ground and covered the distance run on a firm inner turf in 1:48.23 and getting an 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I had a perfect trip,” winning rider Javier Castellano told the New York Racing Association. “That was what I looked for today - be in a good target position, close to the pace. It seemed like my target could be two or three horses. I had a beautiful outside post. I saved ground in the first turn, covered up a little bit. The way it developed was the way I described it before the race.
“He is a good horse who showed up at Saratoga, too, in the graded stakes. At Kentucky Downs last time, he didn’t like it for whatever reason. He showed up in the right spot today at a mile and an eighth.”
Tiz Dashing rebounded from an eighth-place finish in the Gun Runner at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 6. Prior to the race, Tiz Dashing was third in both the Grade 3 Manila and Grade 2 Hall of Fame, both at Saratoga.
Barclay Tagg trains Tiz Dashing for Sackatoga Stable. The winner is by Tiz the Law, who won the Belmont Stakes and Travers for Sackatoga and Tagg.
Tiz Dashing has now won 2 of 9 starts for earnings of $292,207.
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