Tiz Midnight Beats Clock in Bayakoa Victory

Odds-on Tiz Midnight proved a popular winner of the $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes (gr. II) at Los Alamitos for the former Quarter Horse trainer Bob Baffert when she battled back along the rail by a head over Warren's Veneda Dec. 6 .



It was like the good old days for the Hall of Famer Baffert, back in the Los Al winner's circle with his longtime client and pal Mike Pegram following Tiz Midnight's first stakes score in the 1 1/16-mile Bayakoa. Tiz Midnight accomplished the win in a track record time of 1:41.62 on a fast track.



Victor Espinoza guided the daughter of Midnight Lute   out of the dual grade I-winning Tiznow   mare Tough Tiz's Sis to victory. Pegram owns Tiz Midnight in partnership with her breeders, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, who campaigned the dam with Baffert. The quartet also raced the sire, the Eclipse Award-winning sprinter of 2007 and back-to-back Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) winner.



"Victor rode a great race and she was all heart coming down the lane," said Baffert after winning consecutive races on the Saturday card. "That's one thing about (sire) Midnight Lute. He really puts a heart into them. It's good to get a grade II with her. So far things have gone well (at the winter meet)."



Tiz Midnight bounced back from a disappointing effort in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) Oct. 31, when she split a field of 11 after setting the pace for half a mile, weakening to finish 9 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Untapable. Prior to that, the solidly built 4-year-old bay filly ran a game second to two-time champion Beholder in the Sept. 27 Zenyatta Stakes (gr. I).



There was no one named Untapable or Beholder in the Bayakoa, which attracted a modest field of six older fillies and mares for the first stakes race of the brief December meet at Los Alamitos.



Tiz Midnight, the 4-5 favorite, broke a bit slowly before positioned in second by Espinoza outside 19-10 second choice Yahilwa, and those two pulled clear of the field into the first turn. Yahilwa, winner of the Treasure Chest Stakes at Delta Downs Nov. 22, showed the way for jockey Mike Smith, leading the favorite by about a half length through quarter-mile fractions of :23.20, :47.04, and 1:11.32.



"She comes away a little slow from there, so every time I ride her I have to put her in the race," said Espinoza, aboard Tiz Midnight for the sixth consecutive time.



Increasing the pressure rounding the turn for home, Tiz Midnight hit the front coming into the stretch and inched away from her pace rival while angling to the inside. Warren's Veneda and Tyler Baze progressed quickly from fifth at the quarter pole to engage the leader nearing the furlong marker.



Warren's Veneda, a 10-1 outsider, took the lead on the outside at the sixteenth pole briefly. But Tiz Midnight, under left-handed urging from Espinoza, answered the challenge and reached the wire just in time to narrowly defeat her willing challenger.



"She seems to like it when another horse comes to her, so it was actually a good thing when (Warren's Veneda) came to us because she saw her next to us and fought back," Espinoza said. "What I didn't want was for someone to come late and she couldn't see them."



It was 4 1/4 lengths back to third-place finisher Legacy, the only Bayakoa entrant with a prior win over the track, ridden by Edwin Maldonado. Peruvian-bred Valiant Emilia was fourth, followed by Oscar Party and Yahilwa.



Tiz Midnight prevailed for the first time since a gate-to-wire tally in an allowance/optional claiming race going a mile Sept. 1 over the Polytrack at Del Mar. She extended her career record to 4-3-1 in nine starts with earnings of $334,720.



The winner carried 117 pounds and paid $3.60, $2.60, and $2.20 across the board, topping a $20 exacta. California-bred Warren's Veneda, trained by Craig Lewis, returned $6.60 and $4.60. Legacy paid $4.60 to show.