Coglianese / NYRA Photo Photo

Big Q cashes in on Key Cents victory; targets NYSSS Fifth Avenue next month at Big A

by NYRA Press Office

• Tiz a Slam seeks millionaire status in G3 Red Smith
• Spun to Run on track for G1 Cigar Mile
• No immediate plans for Godolphin maiden winners Lake Avenue, Hemlock
• Week 4 Stakes Probables

DutchessViews Farm's Big Q came out of her victory in Saturday's $100,000 Key Cents in good order, with trainer Gary Gullo saying her five-length score in the six-furlong main-track sprint was aided by a nearly three-month freshening off her previous start.

The juvenile Big Brown filly earned a personal-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure in her fourth career start, rebounding from back-to-back fifth-place finishes against stakes competition. After winning her debut by a half-length on July 11 at Saratoga, Gullo stepped Big Q up in company at the Spa, where she finished out of the money in the Grade 2 Adirondack on August 4 and in the Seeking the Ante on August 23.

Big Q worked four times at Belmont Park following that effort in preparation for her Aqueduct bow. Under jockey Jose Lezcano, Big Q was forwardly placed in the Key Cents, dueling pacesetter Time Limit in settling for second position in the seven-horse field. She previously sat well off the speed in her first three starts.

"She came out in great shape," Gullo said. "I think she was just fresh. She was pretty sharp going into the race. I think that he asked her to get up there as well. She's not slow in the beginning; I think she can run either way. I thought she'd be back a little. I thought there'd be a little more pace set up for her, but she just ran a good race. She finished very nice."

Purchased for $3,000 at the 2017 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale, Big Q has already amassed $113,900 in earnings.

"She's a tough filly," Gullo said. "She's one of those horses that doesn't take any nonsense from anybody. She'll try to kick and bite you. She's not scared of anything. I just think I ran her too much. Mature-wise, I think she's kind of the same as she was, but I just think she needed the time off. I think that helped her more than anything."

Big Q is on target to end her 2-year-old campaign in the $500,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series Fifth Avenue Division on December 15 at Aqueduct. Gullo said he thinks Big Q, who has never raced longer than 6 ½ furlongs, can handle the Fifth Avenue's seven-furlong distance.

"I think she can handle it. I don't think it's an issue; I think she can even go longer," Gullo said. "It's just a question of her being in the right shape, and I think she'll be fine."

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Tiz a Slam seeks millionaire status in G3 Red Smith

Chiefswood Stable's homebred Tiz a Slam will look to add to his impressive credentials when he travels to Aqueduct for the first time for the Grade 3, $200,000 Red Smith, a 1 3/8-mile turf test set for Saturday, November 23 on the inner turf.

Trained by Hall of Famer Roger Attfield, the 5-year-old multiple graded-stakes winning Tiznow bay boasts a record of 9-3-1 from 27 starts with purse earnings of $985,953. The classy Ontario-bred has notched six career graded stakes wins.

Tiz a Slam traveled his talents in May 2019 to Churchill Downs where he made all the running to win the Grade 3 Louisville at 1 1/2-miles on a firm turf. He then returned to Woodbine where he captured the Grade 3 Singspiel and Grade 2 Nijinsky, both at 12 furlongs, on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

Last out, Tiz a Slam finished fourth in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer at Woodbine on September 14 and needed some time off that required him to miss the Grade 1 Canadian International on October 12. He has since posted five works at Woodbine, including a trio of bullet breezes on the Tapeta main track. On Sunday morning, he covered five furlongs in 1:00.20 seconds under jockey Steve Bahen, who will retain the mount on Saturday.

"We had to miss the International. He had a little bit of a cough at the time," said Attfield over the phone from Payson Park. "He's been doing that [bullet works] on his own without company, which he wouldn't have been able to do in his younger years. He worked this morning and Stevie called me and said he went very well and everyone was happy."

Tiz a Slam made the grade as a sophomore in the 2017 Grade 3 Ontario Derby on the Woodbine synthetic and added another Woodbine main track score in the 2018 renewal of the Grade 3 Dominion Day. The versatile Tiz a Slam then captured the 2018 Grade 2 Nijinsky on the Woodbine grass to pick up his first turf graded stakes.

Attfield said the sizable Tiz a Slam needed time to grow into his formidable frame.

"He's a big horse and he's just mature now," said Attfield, who will saddle his fourth Red Smith starter having previously competed with Danish Dynaformer [2nd, 2016], Simmard [5th, 2010] and Spice Route [3rd, 2009]. "A lot of those bigger horses don't mature until the end of their 4-year-old year and I think he's fully matured now. We looked after him well in his early life, so he's a very sound horse.

"He was a very uncoordinated young horse altogether. I think he's just at his best right now," continued Attfield. "I didn't think I'd even run him as a 2-year-old with the size of him, but as long as he got into races where he didn't get checked or steadied and got into that big stride of his, he was very effective. But he couldn't really play and jump and buck without half stumbling and falling over. He was just a big, gangly horse. But now, he can move and he's showing a lot more speed now than he had before too. He's a really nice horse."

Tiz a Slam's three wins this season have all come with front-running efforts, but Attfield said he doesn't necessarily need the lead.

"He shows more speed now and quite often finds himself on the lead, which is fine," said Attfield. "If he had to sit off a horse it would be okay as long as he keeps that rhythm going."

The versatile Tiz a Slam boasts graded wins on turf and synthetic, and Attfield said, with an eye to a potential stud career, that the well-related bay might be able to transition his turn of foot to dirt. He made one start on dirt when fifth in the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie, second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, as a 3-year-old.

"I'm interested to see now that he's traveling in a different manner how he handles the dirt," said Attfield. "I'll monitor that this winter at Payson. I'd love to see him run well on the dirt."

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Spun to Run on track for G1 Cigar Mile

Following an upset victory in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Spun to Run is likely for the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile on December 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Juan Carlos Guererro and owned by Robert Donaldson, the sophomore son of Hard Spun set the pace in the Dirt Mile at Santa Anita and drew off to win by 2 ¾ lengths at odds of 9-1.

"We've been watching his training," Guererro said. "He's come back well from the Breeders' Cup and recouped quickly so it looks like we're going there."

The Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile was a third stakes victory for Spun to Run who won the Grade 3 Smarty Jones and M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile Stakes, both contested at Parx Racing, where Spun to Run is based.

Guererro, who has conditioned thoroughbreds for nearly three decades, got his first graded stakes wins with Spun to Run.

"I've been working with horses for a long time and it's been a dream come true," Guererro said. "He's just been a dream. Right now, he's been easy to train. We've developed a good training program for him. It seems the more you give him, the more he wants."

A five-time winner in 11 career starts, Spun to Run was purchased for $64,000 as a 2-year-old from Fasig-Tipton's Mid Atlantic Sale last May and has gone on to amass over $1 million in career earnings.

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No immediate plans for Godolphin maiden winners Lake Avenue, Hemlock

No future plans have been confirmed for recent maiden winners Lake Avenue and Hemlock, who both graduated over the main track at Aqueduct for Godolphin and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

On Thursday afternoon, the well-bred juvenile filly Lake Avenue bested a short field of four, gliding home over a fast main track by 12 ¾ lengths under jockey Junior Alvarado.

A chestnut daughter of Tapit out of dual Grade 1 winner Seventh Street, Lake Avenue was second in her first effort, where she was run down by Power Move, who ran second next out in the Tempted.

"She was highly regarded from day one. Physically, she looks great. She comes from a very nice family," said Jimmy Bell, the President of Godolphin's USA division. "Bill has been patient with her all along. She got run down by a very nice horse of [Hall of Fame trainer] Shug [McGaughey's] first out. This time she controlled the race from the get-go. She still has some hurdles to cross but so far she's done nothing wrong. No immediate plans with her, we'll just see how she comes out of it. We're not in any hurry."

Godolphin, Mott and Alvarado teamed up once more on Saturday afternoon when Hemlock graduated at fourth asking when shortening up to six furlongs at Aqueduct, defeating a field of eight colts and geldings by three-quarters of a length.

The Into Mischief bay was favored in his career debut in an off-the-turf maiden event at Saratoga which was won by eventual Skidmore winner Another Miracle.

Bell said the cut back in distance was to his liking after finishing a distant fifth at Belmont Park on October 2.

"Hemlock's first effort was a good one. When we stretched him out to seven eighths, I'm not sure if it was the distance or the track, possibly a little of both, but he spun his wheels a bit," Bell said. "Cutting back to three-quarters was a good spot and it gave him some more experience under his belt."

Godolphin and Mott have been met with collaborative success with young horses this season. At the end of October, Mott saddled Godolphin's Antionette to a second-out win at Belmont Park. The daughter of Hard Spun breezed over the Belmont training track on Sunday morning completing a half-mile journey in 50.12 seconds.

"He trained Elusive Quality who sported Darley's maroon and white silks," Bell said of Mott. "He's always had a great rapport with Sheikh Mohammed and we're beginning to spread out horses here, there and yonder. Three of the 2-year-olds we gave to Mott have ran and they've all been winners so we're very pleased."

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Week 4 Probables

Saturday, November 23

Grade 3, $200,000 Red Smith
Probable: Dot Matrix (Brad Cox), Have At It (Christophe Clement), Marzo (Mike Maker), Nakamura (Graham Motion), Petit Fils (Clement), Postulation (Michael Matz), Red Knight (Bill Mott), Sadler's Joy (Tom Albertrani), Tiz a Slam (Roger Attfield)

Sunday, November 24

$150,000 NYSSS Thunder Rumble
Probable: Arthur's Hope (Marco Salazar), Dark Money (Rudy Rodriguez), Gold for the King (Charlton Baker), My Boy Tate (Michelle Nevin), Sicilia Mike (Gary Sciacca), T Loves a Fight (Orlando Noda)