BANNER TIME FOR TIZNOW?Byline: Fred J. Robledo Staff Writer ARCADIA - What a month this could be for trainer Jay Robbins. If all the predictions and projections that follow Tiznow are correct, Robbins' Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade 1 Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 years old and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles (2012 m) on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup. champion will be crowned horse of the year for 2000 when the Eclipse Awards are announced on Jan. 30. How rare would that be for a California-bred horse? How about, it's never happened since the Eclipse Awards began in 1971. But then again, a Cal-bred horse had never won a Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I thoroughbred horse races operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982 by a consortium of North American racing organizations, led by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. race until Tiznow came along. And what better way for Robbins to stroll in and accept thoroughbred racing's most coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. prize than to kick off the son of Cee's Tizzy's four-year-old campaign and first race since the Breeders' Cup with a victory in today's $250,000 San Fernando Breeders' Cup Stakes The San Fernando Breeders' Cup Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park each year. It's a Grade II event open to horses, age four and up, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt. at Santa Anita Santa Anita may refer to:
Again, this would be another rare occurrence. If Tiznow wins horse of the year honors, he would be the first horse since Ferdinand to run at the Santa Anita winter/spring meeting following a Breeders' Cup Classic victory and horse of the year honors. Ferdinand did it in 1988. The Grade II 1 1/16 mile San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. is the second leg of the Strub Series, which culminates Feb. 3 with the $500,000 Strub Stakes The Strub Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California each year. Currently a Grade II stakes race with a purse of $300,000, it is open to horses, age four, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt and offers. . Though he will be a heavy favorite, Tiznow will have plenty of obstacles to overcome: a two-month layoff because of injuries; the outside post in an 11-horse field with five graded stakes winners; and possibly a muddy track if the weather doesn't cooperate. ``I think he's ready, we'll keep our fingers crossed and see what happens,'' said Robbins, who has trained four of the top eight all-time Cal-bred earners - Tiznow, Nostalgia's Star, Flying Continental and Budroyale. ``He's training really well. A mile and a sixteenth is well within his reach.'' And so is an Eclipse Award, which Robbins is a little less confident about, though he believes his horse has earned it. ``It's tough for California horses, we'll have to wait and see if that happens,'' Robbins said. ``I'm a little more convinced now that he will get it than I was a month ago, but there are regional biases to contend with. It's still one of those maybe, maybe not sort of things.'' |
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