Checking in With My Man Tiznow

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Tiznow Tim — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:00:30 GMT

One of my favorites of all time. I have been fortunate to visit him twice. He's got a lot of attitude and I'm sure that toughness is what helped him prevail in both Classics. He is a great in my opinion.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Ben Kolbuc — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:06:07 GMT

I have on of Tiznow's sons called Vital Sign. He has had 2 races in Toronto,Canada and won one.

He is now in Alberta And will be training and racing in Edmonton at Northlands. I hope he likes the cold better than his dad as it is very cold here for 6 months of the year.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

cheztoi3 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 05:16:09 GMT

Love Tiznow. Now and always

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

longtimeracingfan — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:01:47 GMT

First: Tiznow has always been a favorite of mine, first as a brother to the good racehorse Budroyale and then very quickly for his own merits and success. And what a nice boost for the often-snooted and supposedly inferior stallions in California.. his sire Cee's Tizzy has done quite nicely. As someone else pointed out, here is a rare line to the great Man o'War and his sireline. The breed NEEDS diversity in bloodlines; it is saturated with Mr. P and ND; great as they were in their own right, they are NOT the only good sires and sirelines.

Saratoga Sinner: Dunno where you get the idea that Tiznow is "in pain" if he walks on concrete. That's downright silly. A lot of horses don't like the noise it makes or the texture of the surface. If you had hooves there would VERY likely be surfaces you would not care to walk on yourself. Myself, I hate gravel, especially barefoot... <G> and 4 of my 6 mares avoid concrete when they have a choice. Two of those have completed the Tevis Cup race (100 miles in one day) and are totally sound and great, lively rides still in their early twenties.

Esther, we love this and I certainly hope you can do more of these "farm visits" for us. I'm 2,000 miles away and trips to KY are few and far between for me.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Lynnie B — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:03:20 GMT

Esther- I was fortunate to see Tiznow when I visited Kentucky a few years ago. I live in California and was lucky to see Tiznow race quite a few times. The people at Winstar were very gracious to this avid horse fan. We got to see Tiznow in his paddock first, and then the groom brought him out and we got to pet him. It was an enormous thrill. From your photos, I can see he's doing great. He's one of my all-time favorites

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Beth — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:16:06 GMT

My sister-in-law and I got to visit Winstar in October of last year. She is a HUGE Tiznow fan and we thought the farm was absolutely breathtaking and as much as the farm was, Tiznow was even more! He is so beautiful and looks so royal standing there. It was a great visit!

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Susan W. — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:14:56 GMT

I visited WinStar twice in June and saw Tiznow --- he is big and BEAUTIFUL. He is also very quirky and here are two more quirks: He has to have a stall door that he can look out of/stick his head out of (and so does Colonel John, who seems to have inherited this quirk) because he is claustrophobic - none of the other stallions at WinStar had to have a stall door like that; also it was mentioned that Tiznow needs to watch two matings before he will do the job himself.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Tiznowbaby — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:47:05 GMT

Thank you so much for the update on my favorite. I'm very glad he's with WinStar.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Justine — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:11:43 GMT

A true blue Californian. I love him just for his hatred of (extremely) cold weather.

And it's true - it's easy to spot a Tiznow. They got big solid bodies that can go a route of ground. The kind of horse I'd love to breed, own, and race.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Barbara W — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:15:17 GMT

Yes! We toured several farms in May of last year, and as luck would have it, we were the only couple at WinStar at the time, so we got a private tour.

I have to say that not only is Tiznow drop-dead stunningly gorgeous, he had the most PRESENCE of any horse we saw. I will never forget him. I've also seen Zenyatta, and she is the only one who compares favorably to the feeling we got when we were with him. Thanks so much for sharing.

If we weren't all the way down here in Texas, we'd be visiting those farms all the time. They would get so tired of us!

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Checkers — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:01:17 GMT

Someone should do a blog on Medaglia d'Oro because I mean he is the Sire of Rachel Alexandra

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Susan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:21:26 GMT

Alas, I've never had the pleasure of visiting him because I live in the New Orleans area, and the years are creeping up on me. But I love him with a passion, follow everything he's done on the track and everything he's done at stud. He's a Hall of Famer...now and forever...and nothing much more can be added. But there is this: he has revitalized the Fair Play/Man O War line as a force in

American breeding...As an oldtimer, that means a lot to me. I always keep in mind that he's a direct male line descendant of Big Red, and everything he achieves adds further glory to that line. Great blog....thanks

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Lois — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:03:25 GMT

Tall -Dark -Handsome-Smart- One of a kind.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Azaria — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:57:59 GMT

My family and I went to Kentucky for a vacation this summer, and WinStar was the last farm we toured during our trip. The place is gorgeous and the horses are too.

But it was really disappointing because they didn't even take any of the horses out, not even Tiznow. They made it seem like they were going to but then they didn't. All the previous farms we'd gone to brought out at least 2 of their big horses. And while we were there trying to get a good look at them in their stalls, they fed the horses their lunch so the entire time the horses were faced away from us and rarely moved. It was very disappointing that all I saw was Tiznow's butt (beautiful though it was).

The place was beautiful, but I'd have to say this was my least favourite farm tour. It was pretty impersonal and rushed. Very upsetting considering the horses and success they have.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

SR71-972 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:24:30 GMT

My favorite Horse EVER thanks for the story and the beautiful pictures.......

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Soldier Course — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:06:37 GMT

I fell in love with Tiznow on my first visit to WinStar in 2006. He is absolutely gorgeous. What a ham! He even let me kiss him. He seems to love people and that endears him to visitors. All your pictures are great. Now I'm "homesick" and have to play that YouTube video of the drive down Pisgah Pike, with "My Old Kentucky Home" playing in the background.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Between Friends — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:57:58 GMT

Thank you so much for updating Tiznow fans on how life is on WinStar Farm. He looks great and he looks happy.

His two victories in the Breeder's Cup Classic were a thrill to watch then and that doesn't change no matter how many times you watch them.

If I ever get back to Kentucky, this is one place I hope to visit.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

txhorsefan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:07:26 GMT

Thank you for sharing your visit with and photos of Tiznow. Although I wasn't following his career when he was actually racing and didn't even realize the Breeders' Cup races existed until 2004, I have jumped on the Tiznow bandwagon big time. He is such a gorgeous horse and it's one of my bucket list items to get to visit WinStar and meet him and his fellow residents in person. Thanks!

Celeste

txhorsefan

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Michael — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:19:24 GMT

Our first visit to WinStar was several years ago. Tiznow could barely muster up the energy to come to the fence to say Hello! Now we visit him every year as part of a tour offered by Premiere Sports Travel in conjunction with the Kentucky Derby. The week in Lexington that they offer capped off by the Oaks and Derby is second to none. I would highly recommend the package to anyone who has wanted to go the Derby for a reasonable price!

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

sushyne — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:17:01 GMT

Visited TizNow and WinStar last spring. It was a miracle, indeed. Amy was a great guide, Tiznow, a charismatic, gorgeous hunk of horse. Loved him!

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Ann in Lexington (aka Pedigree Ann) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:17:39 GMT

Why don't modern stallions have as many starters as the top 'toughness' sires of the past? (And Tiznow, is definitely a 'toughness' sire; sound of body and mind.) 1) the better-bred foals are hot-house raised and overtrained to become sales yearlings and 2yos, often compromising their ability to race. 2) big crops (100+) mean that in many cases, the mares sent to the sire include unsuitable ones (on pedigree and/or physical characteristics) as well as ones of marginal merit ('well-bred' failures as racehorses and broodmares). There just aren't enough good mares for all the top sires to have 100+.

As a note, Northern Dancer had about 20 foals in his first crop, of which 10 were true SWs (and a couple of champions in Canada). E. P. Taylor sent him a carefully chosen complement of good, suitable mares to give him the best chance of success and he obliged. Unusual Heat had 15 or so foals in his first crop, of which 12 (I think) won and 7 earned over $100K, 3 of them over $200K, and these were from mares who were blue-collar at best. The more prominent and expensive a sire becomes, the lower his runners/foals percentage becomes. Folks are reluctant to run that $200K yearling for MC40K, even if that is where it belongs.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

SaratogaSinner — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:14:33 GMT

“He doesn’t like the feel of concrete on his feet, so he’ll adjust his steps so he doesn’t have to walk over it...”

What this really means is that it hurts so the horse is doing something to avoid pain. It's got nothing to do with likes and dislikes.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

DBH — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:41:16 GMT

Love this guy ! Those 2 Breeders Cup wins are always some of my favorite things to re-watch on YouTube. He is turning out to be quite a sire as well. Thank you for the update !

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

Greg — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:35:47 GMT

Will never forget his two Classic wins especially fighting back from apparent defeat and Tom Durkin saying "Tiznow wins it for America" in the aftermath of 9/11.

re: Checking in With My Man Tiznow

seattleslewfan77 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:04:24 GMT

I took the Winstar tour in April. I got to touch Tiznow and that was a thrill of a lifetime. Me in the presence of a 2x Breeder's Cup Champion. Wow!!My picture with Tiznow is my facebook picture. What an incredible animal he is. The folks at Winstar were so nice and it is something I will never forget.