Tizway comes back strong in Kelso Handicap

ELMONT, N.Y. – After an 11-year hiatus, trainer James Bond appears headed back to the Breeders’ Cup after Tizway scored an authoritative five-length victory in Sunday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park.

While the victory did not earn Tizway an automatic bid into the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, the performance should be enough to get him selected into the field for $1 million race to be run Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs.

Due to a broken wing bone in his left front foot, Tizway had not been out since finishing third to Quality Road in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap here May 31. The colt was injured in July preparing for a start in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga in August.

Tizway underwent a special procedure, known as digital nerving, that enabled him to get back into training less than two weeks after he was injured. Bond obviously did a superb job having his horse ready as he fired big Sunday.

Under Rajiv Maragh, Tizway stalked the speedy Jersey Town from second through fractions of 23.12 seconds and 46.03 for the half-mile. Tizway drew alongside Jersey Town approaching the quarter pole and took control approaching the eighth pole en route to the easy score. Cool Coal Man rallied to be second, one length ahead of Jersey Town.

“I definitely wanted to get my horse involved, because he seems to run better that way,” said Maragh, who won two stakes on the card. “When I got to the middle of the turn, I felt like I still had a lot of horse left. Once I called on him in the stretch, he just kicked on.”

Tizway, a son of Tiznow owned by William Clifton, covered the mile in 1:34.42 and returned $7.50 as the second choice.

“I thought he was brilliant,” said Bond, whose last Breeders’ Cup starter was Behrens, who ran fifth in the 1999 Classic. “All in all, I couldn’t be any happier; he did everything the way he was supposed to. We’ll see how he comes out of it, he’s got feet [issues]; feet are a nightmare with horses as we all know. As long as he’s good, we’re going to look at the Breeders’ Cup with him.”

One horse who won’t be looking at the Breeders’ Cup is Regal Ransom, who backed up to sixth after racing in good position early.

“He really trained so well here, and it’s hard to just see him back up like that because he’s such a hard-trying horse,” said Rick Mettee, the New York-based assistant trainer for Godolphin Racing. Alan Garcia “said he was traveling great until about midway around the turn and that he was empty as soon as Alan asked him. That is just so unlike him. You certainly wouldn’t go to the Breeders’ Cup off a race like that.”