Tiz Wonderful injured, off Derby Trail
 

Awww, a shame...

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16500912.htm


Injured Tiz Wonderful will miss Kentucky DerbyBy GARY WEST
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
Tiz Wonderful is off the Kentucky Derby trail. Unbeaten in three races and one of the early favorites for the Triple Crown series, Tiz Wonderful has a minor tendon injury that will delay his return to competition and so prevent his running in the Kentucky Derby, his trainer, Steve Asmussen, said Friday.

“He reached up and hit himself,” Asmussen said, “and there’s a blemish on the tendon (of the right foreleg). So we’ll just walk him for a while, and a horse that’s walking the shedrow this time of year isn’t going to make the (Kentucky) Derby.”

Asmussen wouldn’t speculate about when Tiz Wonderful might be able to resume training or competition. The trainer said he wouldn’t take any chances, but would be very patient and conservative so not to risk serious injury to the tendon.

Asmussen said the injury to Tiz Wonderful was enormously disappointing, especially since the son of Tiznow seems to possess the kind of abilities that foretell Triple Crown success.

“I’ve never had my hands on a horse with his combination of talents,” Asmussen said about Tiz Wonderful. “He’s absolutely amazing, with the speed and stamina he has. He’s very fast, and he keeps running. He’s the first horse I’ve ever had that I never doubted could go the distance (the 1 1/4 miles of the Kentucky Derby).”

Owned by Jess Jackson of California, Tiz Wonderful won his debut by more than 12 lengths at Saratoga in September. He then won the Iroquois Stakes by nearly seven lengths and the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes by a half-length, bringing his earnings to $228,792. Both stakes victories were at Churchill Downs, where the Triple Crown begins May 5 with the Kentucky Derby.

Tiz Wonderful is stabled at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where he had been expected to begin his journey towards the Triple Crown. Asmussen still has several Triple Crown possibilities in his stable, most notably Zanjero, who finished second in the Remsen Stakes and is also in New Orleans.

With Tiz Wonderful out, Nobiz Like Showbiz and Street Sense become the clear early favorites for the Kentucky Derby. Street Sense won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and will probably be named, on Jan. 22, the champion 2-year-old of 2006. Nobiz Like Shobiz won the Remsen Stakes. Both horses are training in Florida.

Translation...

Hes bowed and will probably never run again.

SUX

No such thing as a " minor tendon injury ".

Yeah... he has a minor banana bow.

Number 3 on my Top 10 three year old list...
that scratch moves Day Pass into the "10"

I have one word....NOOOOOOO. I REALLY HATE it when we lose the ones that have so much upside. This horse had an extreme amount of potential.

At this point they all have upside. Technically, considering he had already run some reasonably fast races, he actually had less upside than the vast majority of 3YOs.

His defection is completely unsurprising.

Completely agreed. Hope he makes it back sometime... highly doubt it and found his last race no where near as impressive as Nobiz. As you said it was only a matter of time.

Let's see how greedy his owners are in deciding to retire him or not... another horse with a minor at best resume gettin retired... never seen that5 before... nope not at all lol. There's been horses 10-times worse retired, so I agree, he's done for good.

Were the 3 Northern Dancers and 4 Native Dancers too much of a "good" thing ?

Maybe I'm too easily amused, but anyone else find humor in the fact that the guy who is fighting to clean up the Blood-stock Industry has his best horse trained by the man who just served 6 months on drug violations?

DO WHAT I SAY NOT WHAT I DO !!!!.....or I'll sue you!

Why is it any different than Cot Campbell having horses with Todd Pletcher? What about Barry Irwin having horses with Todd Pletcher? The only difference I see is that Barry Irwin constantly speaks his mind about drugs/medications issues, rules, reform, etc., and that's perfectly fine. Eveyrone is entitled to their opinion, and I for one read Barry Irwin's opinion whenever he publishes it. I don't like all the name calling and insulting commentary that he partakes in, but he's a big boy and he can do whatever he wants.

Jess Jackson on the other hand seems motivated, as you say, to clean up the bloodstock industry as it relates to agents, fraud, and the like. Cot Campbell chaired an industry task force on these issues as well.

Eric

I find it even more amusing when Team Valor uses Pletcher (under suspension) at the same time Barry Irwin is writing editorials about his love of hay oats and water and nothing else...

It is different because Jackson is screaming about integrity, going to politicians, suing people while employing a trainer that has had alot of positives including one (the Mepiv positive in LA) that was not an accident(see DRF article by Haggerty).
Irwin talks out of both sides of his mouth while Campbell is not out there suing people.

It is interesting that Jackson sell some horses under his name but sells others incognito.

DO AS I SAY BUT NOT AS I DO !!!!

I was think about the whole issue of integrity in this industry this morning. Just my opinion but I think that most fans, gamblers, and smaller owners are far more concerned about integrity than the major figures in the game INCLUDING the racetracks themselves.

It's hard to argue with this.

I totally agree....and that also includes caring more about the big picture of the game overall.