Tyler's Tribe Takes to Turf in Keeneland Breeze
Image:
Description:
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Tyler's Tribe works over the turf Oct. 15 with Kylee Jordan aboard at Keeneland
The undefeated Tyler's Tribe took his first spin around the Keeneland turf course the morning of Oct. 15 in preparation for a start in the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) at the Lexington track.
Owned in partnership by Tom Lepic and trainer Tim Martin, the speedy Iowa-bred, accompanied by regular pilot Kylee Jordan, breezed three-furlongs in :39 4/5.
Unaccustomed to the cones, or "dogs" set up around the turf course, Tyler's Tribe attempted to leap the cones into his work before settling into stride down the lane.
"We don't have cones in Iowa," Martin joked after the breeze. "I thought (he went) fine. As long as he wasn't floundering out there and having trouble with it, which he wasn't. The time wasn't my concern.
"He always works (three-furlongs) in :38 or :39. If he gets with another horse, he'll work a bullet. But otherwise he isn't a fast work horse and I don't care about having real fast breezes with him anyway. I know he's fast and I know he can run."
Tyler's Tribe works at Keeneland
With a 5-for-5 record, all on dirt, Martin indicated that while the gelding was originally under consideration for the 1 1/16-mile FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), the $1 million Turf Sprint will be his final target. The race is contested over 5 1/2 furlongs, a distance at which Tyler's Tribe has won twice in his career.
"(Kylee) said he galloped out good after the workout," Martin said. "She feels comfortable with him out there (on the turf)."
The Turf Sprint will be the inaugural Breeders' Cup appearance for Jordan, Lepic, and Martin.
"I completely trust Tim and Kylee," Lepic said. "This is the first time I've ever owned a horse that worked on the turf, so I don't know a lot about it. I'll go by what (Tim and Kylee) said and I'm just excited to be here."
Tyler's Tribe, picked up by Lepic and Martin for $34,000 at the 2021 Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association Fall Mixed Sale, the son of Sharp Azteca quickly turned heads with dominating performance after dominating performance at Prairie Meadows—the most recent being a 6 1/2-length romp in the Oct. 2 Iowa Cradle Stakes. The frontrunning gelding has led at every point in all of his starts.
Martin reported that Tyler's Tribe would breeze on the Keeneland main track next weekend before returning to the turf to drill another three furlongs the Saturday before the Turf Sprint.