Tiz Midnight gets class relief in Bayakoa

CYPRESS, Calif. – Tiz Midnight has raced against the best fillies and mares in the United States in the last few months. A second-place finish behind the two-time champion Beholder in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 27 was followed by a sixth-place finish behind Untapable in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff there Oct. 31.

Class relief arrives Saturday, when Tiz Midnight starts as the presumptive favorite in the $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles at Los Alamitos. Even the Grade 2 Bayakoa will not be an easy race for Tiz Midnight, who is owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman.

Tiz Midnight is part of a field of six, including Legacy, Oscar Party, Valiant Emilia, Warren’s Veneda, and Yahilwa. Tiz Midnight is the only filly or mare in the race who has not won a stakes. Yahilwa won the $200,000 Treasure Chest Stakes at Delta Downs on Nov. 22 and has the quickest turnaround of the Bayakoa runners.

Tiz Midnight, trained by Bob Baffert, will race near the lead. A win in the Bayakoa would be her first stakes win in her ninth start. She has won three times and earned $214,720.

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Key contenders

Tiz Midnight (Last 3 Beyers: 87-98-95)

* Tiz Midnight set the pace in the BC Distaff but faded in the stretch, finishing 9 1/2 lengths behind Untapable.

“We had to take a chance,” Baffert said. “She’d run so well when she finished second to Beholder. We were looking for an easier pace.”

* Tiz Midnight won three consecutive races from late June to Sept. 1 – a maiden race and two optional claimers. She can be difficult on herself, Baffert said.

“She makes the lead because she’s a big-striding filly,” he said. “Her mind is her biggest problem. She can get nervous.”

Yahilwa (Last 3 Beyers: 91-95-91)

* The Treasure Chest was the first stakes win for Yahilwa in her 23rd start. She closed from fifth in a field of nine to win the one-mile race by 2 1/4 lengths as the even-money favorite under jockey Mike Smith, who has the mount Saturday.

* Yahilwa was fourth in the Zenyatta Stakes in September.

“She’s getting better and better,” trainer Jim Cassidy said. “I’ve always liked the filly because she tries so hard. The farther she ran, the better she was going in Louisiana.”

Valiant Emilia (Last Beyer: 82)

* Valiant Emilia was eighth in the BC Distaff at 54-1, her U.S. debut. A multiple stakes winner in Peru, Valiant Emilia has been in the U.S. since the summer.

* Trainer Gary Mandella said Valiant Emilia can be effective as a stalker. In the BC Distaff, Valiant Emilia was fifth early and faded in the final half-mile.

“I think she was a little too close to the lead,” Mandella said. “The second time off the layoff, she should be in a tactical spot.”

Legacy (Last 3 Beyers: 66-82-72)

* Trained by John Sadler, Legacy has thrived at Los Alamitos this year, winning the Cypress Stakes in July and finishing second in the Las Madrinas Stakes in September. She was last of eight Nov. 2 in the Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes on turf at Santa Anita.