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Tyler’s Tribe Fires Oaklawn Bullet

Iowa-bred sensation Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) worked five furlongs in 1:00 flat Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park, his third breeze since receiving a month off following a second bleeding incident when third in the Dec. 9 Advent S. in Hot Springs. He also bled and was vanned off after being eased home in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in November. He previously went three furlongs in :36.40 (3/8) Feb. 18 and a half-mile in :48.60 (13/66) Mar. 4.

“Doing good,” said trainer and co-owner Tim Martin. “I'm just kind of working him and seeing where we're at. Working him and scoping him and he's looking good so far.”

The conditioner indicated that he would like to start Tyler's Tribe before the end of the Oaklawn meet May 6, but said he had no specific race in mind for the gelding's sophomore debut.

“I want to make sure he's right,” Martin said. “He's come back doing good and scoped clean every time. We're good, knock on wood.”

Tyler's Tribe won his first five trips to the post–four in stakes company–by nearly 60 lengths combined over sprint trips, and instead of stretching out for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, elected to stick to the Juvenile Turf Sprint. The 4-5 chalk in the Advent S., he set a reasonable early pace, but weakened late and scoped dirty yet again.

To date, Tyler's Tribe has amassed a record of 5-0-1 from seven starts overall and earnings of $320,169.

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Tyler’s Tribe Pointing to Dec. 9 Advent Stakes at Oaklawn

After a failed attempt in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in which he bled, Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) will return to his comfort zone for his next start. Trainer and co-owner Tim Martin reports that his Iowa-bred gelding will start next in the Dec. 9 Advent S. at Oaklawn at 5 1/2 furlongs on the dirt for 2-year-olds.

“This will give him five weeks between races,” Martin said. “We worked him last week and he didn't bleed. Everything looked good. I'll breeze him again Saturday. In this race coming up we can use Lasix and I'd like to take advantage of that.”

Tyler's Tribe, an Iowa-bred who cost $34,000 as a yearling, dominated his competition in his first five starts, all of them at Prairie Meadows, winning by a combined margin of 59 3/4 lengths. With no dirt sprint race for 2-year-olds available at the Breeders' Cup, Martin elected to try Tyler's Tribe on the grass in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. It was more or less a disaster. Racing without Lasix for the first time in his career, Tyler's Tribe bled and had to be vanned off the track.

“He just got stressed that day,” Martin said. “I don't think he liked the turf. Then he made a pretty good bobble and his head went down right before he bled. When he walked on that turf course he started washing out. He never did that before. He had always been calm. He was doing fine in the post parade. The minute he stepped on turf he started sweating.”

While going back on Lasix in the Advent may help Tyler's Tribe in the short term, Martin can't count on using it throughout the year. In the races in which horses can accrue points for the GI Kentucky Derby, Lasix is not allowed. Martin is still holding out hope that Tyler's Tribe can prove worthy of chasing after the Derby and is hopeful that bleeding won't be an issue.

“We breezed him last week and he breezed good,” Martin said. “He scoped good, there was no mucus, no blood, no anything. Everything was good. I never have thought he was a bleeder.”

Should Tyler's Tribe win the Advent, Martin will reevaluate where he is with the horse. A race like the Smarty Jones S., run at a mile on Jan. 1 is a possibility.

“Will I point for the Derby? Maybe,” he said. “I want to see how he does in this race first.”

With Tyler's Tribe having never run beyond six furlongs, he'll need to prove he can go a distance. Martin doesn't think it will be a problem.

“I love the thought of him going a distance,” he said. “The rider thinks he'll be great going long. I never thought he was a sprinter. That he did so well in sprints kind of surprised me. At the end, he always has a lot left.”

The Advent is a $150,000 race and will be run on opening day at Oaklawn.

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The Breeders’ Cup is Next for Iowa-Bred Sensation Tyler’s Tribe

After another dominating performance, this time in the Iowa Cradle S., the undefeated Iowa-bred gelding Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) will face the stiffest test of his career when going next in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland. Just don't call him an underdog. He's too fast for that.

“We're headed to Kentucky and I think we have a good horse,” said co-owner and trainer Tim Martin. “I know he's been running in Iowa but has been beating them pretty bad over there. He's been pretty amazing.”

The story of the over achieving Iowa-bred began when Martin and co-owner Tom Lepic bought the horse for $34,000 as a yearling at last year's Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association Fall Mixed Sale, not knowing at the time that Sharp Azteca would turn out to be one of the top freshman sires in the country. The hope was to get a productive Iowa-bred, but it was obvious early on that they got much more than just that. Tyler's Tribe, who is named for Lepic's grandson, who has been battling leukemia, won his first four starts by a combined 53 1/4 lengths during a streak that included a gaudy 94 Beyer figure when he beat open company in the Prairie Meadows Freshman S.

He has never run outside of Prairie Meadows, where Martin is third in the trainer's standings. The regular rider is Kylee Jordan, the leading rider at Prairie Meadows who only recently lost her apprentice allowance.

In Saturday's Iowa Cradle, which was restricted to Iowa-breds, Tyler's Tribe, a 1-20 favorite, won by 6 1/2 lengths. It was the smallest winning margin of his five-race career, but he was geared down in the stretch and was never at any point asked for his best.

That wasn't the plan. Martin wanted Tyler's Tribe to gallop out an extra two furlongs after the wire, but with Jordan all but pulling the horse up at the wire it didn't work out.

“She was supposed to go out a mile,” Martin said of Jordan. “I think there was a misunderstanding. She kind of saved him down the lane when I told her to keep riding him so he could go out a mile. She stood up on him and the horse thought he was done. So, I didn't like the gallop out. It wasn't the horse's fault.”

Martin has had his sights set on the Breeders' Cup for a while. The only question was whether or not they would try for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on the dirt or the Juvenile Turf at 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass. Neither is a perfect fit. Tyler's Tribe has never run on the grass, but neither has he ever run beyond six furlongs. Ultimately, Martin settled on the shorter race and the plan is to arrive at Keeneland on Tuesday so that he can adapt to his surroundings and get a chance to train over the turf course.

“He's a sprinter and I don't know if he's ready to go long yet,” Martin said. “I really think he will like the grass. His pedigree suggests he'll run well on the grass and he's got a sibling or two that has run well on the grass. I wish the race were on dirt because we know he likes the dirt. But at this point in his career I just don't know if he's ready for a mile-and-a-sixteenth race.”

Though Tyler's Tribe has been facing modest competition, he figures to be among the favorites in the Juvenile Turf. If that weren't the case, Martin said he wouldn't be taking the shot that he is.

“I don't want to go to the Breeders' Cup just to go to the Breeder's Cup,” he said. “I want to go when I know I have a shot to win a race or run a really big race. I'm not interested in going just to say that I had a horse in the Breeders' Cup. I think we have the horse to compete. He'll be one of the top horses in his race, He's five-for-five and has done it all easily.”

Martin does think his horse will eventually be able to succeed in two-turn races and hopes to give him that shot next year. But first the Breeders' Cup, where he will take on some of the fastest 2-year-olds on the planet. Is he up to the task? It's a fascinating question, and the answer awaits.

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Sharp Azteca Colt Leads Gains At Iowa Fall Sale

The Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association's Fall Sale posted gains in gross and average sale price on Sept. 2, led by a $34,000 colt from the first crop of Sharp Azteca.

A total of 36 yearlings changed hands at the Iowa sale for revenues of $402,350, up three percent from the previous year's edition when 48 yearlings brought $389,400. The average sale price rose 34 percent to $11,176 from $8,285, and the buyback rate finished at 10 percent compared with 28 percent in 2020.

Tom Lepic and Tim Martin purchased the sale-topper, a Sharp Azteca colt, for $34,000.

The dark bay or brown colt is the first foal out of the winning Mission Impazible mare Impazible Woman. Bred in Iowa, the colt hails from the family of Grade 2 winner Tenants Harbor and Hungarian Horse of the Year Ryan's Gift.

The colt was consigned by Clifton Farm.

This year's leading consignor was Iowa State University, with 11 horses sold for a total of $182,200. Leading the way was Molly Bye O, an Anchor Down filly who sold to Poindexter Thoroughbreds for $30,000.

Poindexter Thoroughbreds was, in turn, the sale's leading buyer, landing four horses for a combined $71,500. All four purchases came from the Iowa State consignment.

To view the auction's full results, click here.

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