Tiz the Bomb got back to his winning ways in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park on March 5, holding off a late charge from Stolen Base at the wire.
The Ken McPeek trainee, who was favored at 8-5, earned ten points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The Battaglia carried a value of 10-4-2-1 to top four finishers.
Updated Kentucky Derby/Oaks Leaderboard
Tiz the Bomb and jockey Alex Achard hustled out of the gate but faced a wall of horses and had to go four wide into the first turn in the 1 1/16-mile contest. They settled mid-pack, well off the early pace set by La Belleza Negra and Erase. Achard started asking his mount for run just after the field posted a half-mile fraction of :48.18, picking off rivals on the outside as they entered the turn, swinging four wide into the stretch. Tiz the Bomb continued driving through the stretch, just edging a late flight from Stolen Base by a neck.
Stolen Base was second and Grael was third.
Tiz the Bomb paid $5.20, $4.20, and $3.20.
The final time was 1:44.12, with fractions of 23.97, :48.18, 1:12.44, and 1:37.62. See the full chart here.
Tiz the Bomb was second in last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, but finished a disappointing seventh in the G3 Holy Bull in early February. Previously, his resume included wins in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile and the G2 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland.
Tiz the Bomb was listed in the program as being owned by Sherri McPeek's Magdelana Racing, although he has previously run under the colors of Phoenix Thoroughbreds. McPeek told media in recent weeks that he would lease the horse from Phoenix as he points toward the Epsom Derby. Phoenix is banned from racing in the United Kingdom, as its founder Amer Abdulaziz Salman has been implicated by a witness in a federal criminal case in New York as being a money launderer for an international cryptocurrency scam. Salman has not been charged with any crimes in this country as a result of that witness statement and has no restrictions on his owner's license stateside.
The 3-year-old colt is the son of Hit It A Bomb and Tiznow mare Tiz The Key. He was bred in Kentucky by Spendthrift Farm and was sold to McPeek for $330,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase in 2020.
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