Goodwood S. (gr. I)
(gr. I , 9f ,)
TIAGO
(B h,
121
lb) $300,000
Pleasant Tap —Set Them Free , by
Stop the Music
B—Mr. & Mrs. Jerome S. Moss,
KY.;
O—Moss, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome S.;
T—John A. Shirreffs
Awesome Gem
(CH g,
124
lb) $100,000
Awesome Again —Piano , by
Pentelicus
B—Peter J. Callahan,
KY.;
O—West Point Thoroughbreds, Arudel, Patrice, Blavin, Paul, et al;
T—Craig Dollase
Big Booster
(B g,
124
lb) $60,000
Accelerator —Waterside , by
Topsider
B—Thomas/Lakin/Kintz,
KY.;
O—Anastasi, Scott and Wayne and Ukegawa, James;
T—Mike R. Mitchell
Margins: nose, 1, ¾. Others: Lewis Michael 124($30,000) , A. P. Xcellent 124($10,000) , Hello Sunday (FR) 124 , Arson Squad 124($10,000) , Wanna Runner 124($10,000) . Winning Jockey, Mike E. Smith.
Tiago not only won the Sept. 29 Goodwood Stakes (gr. I) at Oak Tree at Santa Anita but became the first 3-year-old to win the 11¼8-mile stakes since Tiznow in 2000. That circumstance might bode well for the near future as Tiznow won the first of his two Breeders’ Cup Classics (gr. I) several weeks later. He went on to be voted 2000 Horse of the Year and champion older male in 2001.
Tiago, who figures to contest the Oct. 27 Classic - Powered by Dodge, proved dangerous in the Goodwood in that he was a well-rested horse. The son of Pleasant Tap went into the Goodwood off a 10-week layoff after winning the July 14 Swaps Breeders’ Cup Stakes (gr. II) at Hollywood Park at the same distance.
As the only 3-year-old in the Goodwood, Tiago received three pounds from his seven older rivals, and that lighter load might have made the difference. He won by just a nose after a game effort at the end with Awesome Gem.
Although Tiznow was the last 3-year-old to win the Goodwood and Classic, he wasn’t the last horse to win both events the same year. Pleasantly Perfect, the Goodwood winner in 2002-03, won the Classic in 2003.
A Kentucky-bred, Tiago races for his breeders, Jerome and Ann Moss, and is trained by John Shirreffs. It’s the same combination responsible for Tiago’s half-brother Giacomo, who won the 2005 Kentucky Derby (gr. I).
While racing for the Mosses and Frank Stronach’s Stronach Stables in last year’s Classic, Giacomo ran fourth in what was his final start and retired with earnings of $2,537,316. He entered stud in 2007 at Stronach’s Adena Springs Kentucky near Midway for a fee of $12,500.
Tiago was foaled at Mill Ridge Farm near Lexington. Alice Chandler owns the Lexington farm with her husband, Dr. John Chandler. Tiago’s dam, the Stop the Music mare Set Them Free, is boarded at the farm. A four-time stakes winner for the Mosses, she has produced eight named foals, including stakes-placed Sea Jewel, by Sea Hero. She also is the dam of an unnamed yearling colt by Giant’s Causeway and a 2007 colt by Pulpit. She is not in foal for 2008.
Pleasant Tap has sired 45 stakes winners. His seven stakes winners of 2007 also include grade III winners Pleasant Hill and Solo Survivor, plus Footlights (NSA-I). Pleasant Tap stands at William S. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky. His 2007 fee was $15,000.—D.S.