Tiz a Slam to Nijinsky Stakes; Ickymasho retired

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Tiz a Slam captured the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes in his most recent start June 22, and trainer Roger Attfield said he will now point him toward the Grade 2, $175,000 Nijinsky Stakes over 1 1/2 miles on turf July 28, a race Tiz a Slam won last season.

Tiz a Slam recorded his second graded stakes win in a row, and fifth overall, in the Singspiel after he had won the Grade 3 Louisville Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 18. Attfield said Tiz a Slam could continue on the long-distance turf path at Woodbine this season, which includes a pair of Grade 1 events, the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes in September and the Canadian International in October. Tiz a Slam finished sixth in the Northern Dancer and fourth in the Canadian International last season.

“We’ve got a good program right here,” Attfield said. “We’ve got as good of a grass course as anywhere in North America, so we might as well stay here.”

Tiz a Slam returned to the work tab on Saturday, breezing four furlongs in 48 seconds on Tapeta.

“He’s come out of that race really well and he’s training really nicely,” Attfield said.

Ickymasho retired

After a strong spring in which Ickymasho recorded a pair of stakes victories on turf in the Grade 3 Bewitch Stakes at Keeneland in April and the Searching Stakes at Pimlico in May, Attfield said the 7-year-old mare has been retired following an issue that emerged out of her win in the Searching.

“She came out of her last race with a problem, and it was better if she just retired,” he said. “It was going to take her a long time to get over it anyway.”

Attfield had hoped Ickymasho would run in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine on June 29, which was won by Holy Helena.

Ickymasho retires with a career record of 10 wins from 40 starts, with nine of those starts having taken place in North America under the care of Attfield. She moved to North America at the start of the 2018 season and made four of her five starts on synthetic last year, including a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Trillium Stakes at Woodbine.

Her form turned around on the turf this spring. After finishing seventh in the Grade 3 La Prevoyante Stakes at Gulfstream in January, she recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Grade 3 The Very One Stakes and the Grade 3 Orchid Stakes before her victories in the Bewitch and the Searching. She retires with career earnings of $354,548.