Tiz Town faces elders in turf-mile feature

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The final four-day stretch of the 11-day September meet at Churchill Downs gets under way Thursday with the still somewhat novel twist of running the featured race under the lights.

It was on June 19, 2009, that Churchill began using light stanchions to allow racing action to extend beyond daytime hours. For the record, 36 Downs After Dark cards have been held here since then – the most recent being this past Saturday, when 14,786 turned out – but there also have been numerous other occasions when the last few races of certain programs have required artificial lighting, such as Breeders’ Cup days, Thanksgiving weekends, and twilight programs. The eight-race Thursday card will be one of the latter.

The modest headliner (race 7) is a $40,200, first-level allowance set for a mile on the turf, and as such races go, it’s fairly attractive. Tiz Town, a 3-year-old Tiznow colt carrying the eton blue and brown of the Marylou Whitney stable when returning home from a summer in New York, figures as a slight favorite when facing older horses. A field of nine is entered, including one main-track-only entrant, Scout Leader.

This is the last of two Twilight Thursdays at the meet. First post is 5 p.m. Eastern, with the feature set for 8:09 and the last race for 8:39. Two starter allowances (races 2 and 8) and a split 2-year-old maiden special weight (races 4 and 6) are among the supporting events. Ontrack fans can avail themselves of food-and-drink specials and live music in the Plaza area.

From Sunday, there are jackpot carryovers in the $2 pick six (races 3-8, $13,832), 10-cent pick seven (races 2-8, $4,556), and 50-cent Super High Five (race 8, $2,398).

KEY CONTENDERS

Tiz Town (Last 3 Beyers: 74-77-69)

◗ This marks his first attempt against older horses outside of the maiden ranks, and he appears to match up well following back-to-back fourth-place finishes in richer races at Belmont in July and Saratoga in August.

Blarp (Last 3 Beyers: 71-85-73)

◗ This race-caller’s favorite makes his second start off the Joe Sharp claim and would do well to reprise the two-back 85 Beyer Speed Figure he earned when defeating conditioned claimers on the Saratoga turf.

Silver Dagger (Last 3 Beyers: 74-73-65)

◗ This 3-year-old colt narrowly missed winning for this condition two starts back at Ellis Park as part of the Dale Romans brigade that stayed home this summer. He exits a sixth-place finish in a $128,000 Kentucky Downs allowance.

Thunder Moon (Last 3 Beyers: 79-79-69)

◗ This Virginia-bred stretch runner has tended to fare considerably better when spotted for a claiming tag but nonetheless appears to fit in with this brand.