Stallion Feature: Tiznow Continues to Prove to be a Now Sire

Stallion Feature: Tiznow Continues to Prove to be a Now Sire: September 11, 2001 will be a day that this generation will always remember. It was a modern day Pearl Harbor. Terrorists took it upon themselves to kill thousands of innocent people, just to tell the officials that represent our countries that they do not agree with them. The American people were angry, they were scared, and they were confused. America was in need of a hero, and the sports world was one way to escape for a little while.

October 27th couldn’t have come soon enough. Tiznow was back to defend his title as the Classic winner, but again, history was stacked against him. No horse before him, or after him, has achieved back-to-back Classic wins. Tiznow needed to win this race, for his connections, but for a bigger audience. America needed him to win. Tiznow barely prevailed, but prevail is exactly what he did. He defeated overseas invader Sakhee. America needed a win, and Tiznow won for America.

Before Tiznow became America’s horse, he was a very good racehorse in his own right. He was only off the board in one start, which would be his first start. Trainer Jay Robbins knew the colt needed a lot more ground than the 6F he got first out. After that, Tiznow never ran shorter than 8.5F. Tiznow would not start until April of his three-year-old year. Due to this he missed the Triple Crown campaign, but it could have been the best thing for Tiznow. He would quickly become a superstar for his connections. In his first season at the track, he won the G3 Affirmed Stakes, the G1 Super Derby, G2 Goodwood, and the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic. He would also finish second in the G1 Swaps and G1 Pacific Classic. This campaign was enough to earn two Eclipse Awards: Three Year Old Champion and Horse of the Year.

Tiznow returned as a four-year-old, but appeared to lose a step. He won his season debut in the G2 San Fernando Stakes. He would finish second in the G2 Strub Stakes before seeing the winners’ circle again in the G1 Santa Anita Handicap. His next two starts, he finished third in the G1 Woodward and G2 Goodwood. Tiznow was not the favorite in the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Classic, as he paid $15.80 for a $2 win bet. He prevailed over foreign invader Sakhee, to win the Classic a bit over a month after the terrorist attacks on New York. New York was able to witness this fight, as the Breeders’ Cup was held at Belmont that weekend.

After the second Classic win, Tiznow was retired to stud, standing his first season in 2002. He stands at WinStar Farm in Versailles, Kentucky for a fee of $75,000. This fee is more than double the introductory fee of $30,000 for the 2002 season. Tiznow has been at WinStar his entire stud career. There, he has sired 2 champions, 31 graded stakes winners, 55 stakes winners, and 48 stakes placed horses. He can be found as the sire of well-known horses Well Armed, Colonel John, Charge Now (1/2 to Super Saver), Gemologist, Fury Kapcori, and Folklore.

In 2014, Tiznow has sired 104 winners, 10 stakes winners with 12 stakes wins, and 5 graded stakes winners, but no grade one winners thus far. He has earned almost $6.5 million as a sire in 2014.

Tiznow has sired sprinters and routers in his stud career. The $75,000 stud fee seems small when a breeder looks at the racing and breeding possibilities that Tiznow represents. This year, Tiznow was the sire of a $1.1 million filly at the Keeneland September Sale. The filly was out of the Storm Cat mare, Countess Lemonade. She is a half sibling to Ruler of the World (IRE) and Duke of Marmalade (IRE). Tiznow is seemingly a bargain, and is continuing to attract grade one quality mares.

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