Tiznow Wins With Strong Stretch Run

By BILL CHRISTINE

Jan. 31, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

For a 3-year-old to be voted horse of the year, he usually needs to win at least one Triple Crown race or midsummer’s Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Tiznow didn’t even run in those four races, but he was such a force against older horses at the end of the season that when it was announced Tuesday night that he was an overwhelming choice for the 2000 horse of the year, there was no surprise.

Tiznow didn’t break his maiden until May 31--after the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, the first two legs of the Triple Crown--but after that he quickly climbed the competitive ladder, winning important races in California and Louisiana. In November, he beat the best from North America and Europe in the $4-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. His owners supplemented him into the race for $360,000.

The results of the horse-of-the-year vote were announced at the Eclipse Awards dinner in New Orleans. Tiznow collected 72% of the votes, drawing 157 1/2 of 218 cast, to become the first California-bred to win the title since Swaps in 1956.

Tiznow, who is the son of Cee’s Tizzy, a once-unpopular sire shunned by many breeders, and Cee’s Song, a broodmare that won only one race and produced only one previous stakes winner, became the first California-bred to win a Breeders’ Cup race.

His breeder and co-owner, Cee Straub-Rubens, traveled to Kentucky for the Breeders’ Cup, accepted the trophy in the winner’s circle and died three days later in a Newport Beach hospital. Straub-Rubens, who was 83, had been battling cancer, but the struggle didn’t keep her from following her racing stable and, in particular, Tiznow.

Although Tiznow didn’t get rolling until nearly mid-year, there was really no other contender. Lemon Drop Kid, who was announced Tuesday as the Eclipse winner for best older male, tapered off badly late in the year and was soundly beaten in the Breeders’ Cup. Fusaichi Pegasus, the Kentucky Derby winner, won only one race after that and finished far back in the Breeders’ Cup. Kona Gold, the near-unanimous choice for best sprinter, bore the stigma of not competing in distance divisions.

The runner-up for horse of the year was Lemon Drop Kid with 14 votes. Riboletta, who won the Eclipse for best filly or mare, got 12. Others receiving votes were Kona Gold (11), Giant’s Causeway (10), Fusaichi Pegasus (8 1/2), Perfect Sting (3), War Chant (1) and Kalanisi (1).

To win horse of the year, a candidate must gain a plurality from at least two of the three voting groups, and Tiznow’s margin was top-heavy across the board. He polled 42 of the 49 votes by the Daily Racing Form; 33 of the 53 from the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn., and 82 1/2 of the 116 from the National Turf Writers’ Assn. Track racing secretaries and race chart-callers formed the NTRA bloc.

Tiznow, the 10th 3-year-old to win horse of the year since the Eclipse Awards began in 1971, has already launched his 4-year-old campaign, winning the San Fernando Breeders’ Cup Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 13. He will be heavily favored in a small field there Saturday in the Strub Stakes.

“We miss Cee tremendously,” Cooper said, referring to his late partner. “This was something that she had always hoped for. She had a never-quit attitude. She did it with eight mares and just one stallion. It shows what you can do in this sport. I’m still in awe of this horse. I was in awe of him when I saw his first workout as a 2-year-old, and he’s still giving us thrills.”

Trained by Jay Robbins and ridden by Chris McCarron in his last four wins, Tiznow races for Mike Cooper, a co-owner from the beginning, and Straub-Rubens’ son, Kevin Cochrane, and her daughter, Pamela Ziebarth.

Robbins nursed Tiznow through a 2-year-old year curtailed because of a fractured tibia. The colt didn’t make his debut until April 22, when he ran sixth at Santa Anita. He ran second May 11 at Hollywood Park, where he broke his maiden with an 8 1/2-length victory May 31.

Asked what ingredients contributed to Tiznow’s success, McCarron said: “First off, he’s got the ability to cover a lot of ground in a hurry. He’s also got stamina and heart, and he’s been superbly conditioned by Jay Robbins, who’s picked his spots perfectly. Every time we go out there, Jay has this horse ready to run.”

Robbins fast-forwarded him into stakes company after that. Tiznow won the Affirmed Handicap and ran second to Captain Steve in the Swaps at Hollywood. Against older horses for the first time, he was second to Skimming in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

Since then, he has been undefeated. Wins in the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs and the Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita preceded the Breeders’ Cup.

It was a big night for Frank Stronach, who raced 2-year-old male winner Macho Uno and Perfect Sting, who won female on grass. Stronach was voted best owner for the third consecutive year, and he also won his first Eclipse as outstanding breeder.

Stronach’s main trainer, however, finished third as Joe Orseno trailed Bobby Frankel and Scott Lake in a close vote. Frankel, whose stable won 22 stakes--including six Grade Is with different horses--finished second to Bob Baffert on the money list and earned his second Eclipse.

The jockey winners were Jerry Bailey, who won his fourth Eclipse; and apprentice Tyler Baze, who beat out Norberto Arroyo Jr. in a split vote. Arroyo got the Racing Form vote, but the turf writers and the NTRA favored Baze, who is the first California-based apprentice winner since Steve Valdez in 1973.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Total Eclipse

Eclipse Awards winners for 2000:

Horse of the year Tiznow

2-year-old male Macho Uno

2-year-old female Caressing

3-year-old male Tiznow

3-year-old female Surfside

Older male Lemon Drop Kid

Older female Riboletta

Grass male Kalanisi

Grass female Perfect Sting