Tiz a Slam wires field in Louisville Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Capitalizing by setting a crawling pace, Canadian invader Tiz a Slam led from start to finish in the $100,000 Grade 3 Louisville at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Racing 1 1/2 miles over a firm turf course that has produced fast times this meet, Tiz a Slam and jockey Steven Bahen went easily through the first turn of the three-turn Louisville with an opening quarter in 24.91 seconds, only to enjoy even easier subsequent quarter miles. He passed the grandstand the first time with a half-mile in 50.81 seconds, followed by six furlongs in 1:16.18 and a mile in 1:38.51, accomplished under merely token pressure from his six pursuers.

With plenty left in reserve, he was able to turn back a series of stretch challenges that mounted with about a sixteenth of a mile remaining, prevailing by three-quarters of a length over favored Shahroze. A 5-year-old son of Tiznow, the winner stopped the clock in 2:27.48, which included a final quarter mile in 23.05. He paid $7 as the second betting choice in the field of seven.

“He was kind of waiting on them,” Bahen said of the opposition. “But then he took off again. Perfect.”

It was the second victory in the Louisville for Canadian-based trainer Roger Attfield, who first won the race in 2012 with Simmard. Earlier Saturday, Attfield won the Searching Stakes at Pimlico with Ickymasho.

The Louisville marked Tiz a Slam’s fifth stakes victory over a 24-race career for owner/breeder Chiefswood Stable. This was his first stakes win from three starts in 2019, coming after he took the Grade 3 Dominion Day and Grade 2 Nijinsky at Woodbine in 2018. By virtue of having won the Nijinsky, he carried highweight of 126 pounds under the Louisville’s race conditions, spotting his six rivals four pounds apiece.

His placement in Saturday’s race was meant to leave him well prepared for long-distance stakes this summer at Woodbine, Attfield said last week.

Shahroze, also a graded winner last year at Woodbine, where he won the Grade 3 Singspiel, was game for second, outfinishing third-place Nessy by a head. Defending winner Vettori Kin was a neck farther back in fourth. Royal Artillery, Soglio, and Strike the Flag completed the order of finish.

This year’s Singspiel at Woodbine is June 22, providing adequate spacing to make that race a possible target for both the winner and runner-up.