KimDon Racing’s Tizzy in the Sky broke alertly and made every pole a winning one to capture Sunday’s $150,000 Top Flight (L), a 1 1/8-mile test for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and piloted by Kendrick Carmouche, the 5-year-old graded stakes-placed Sky Kingdom mare picked up her first career stakes win in her fifth attempt.
“Kendrick won it at the break – she broke so sharp, outbroke everyone else, and just kept going from there,” said Pletcher’s New York-based assistant Amelia Green. “Easy fractions, which certainly helped. It’s nice when you see them on the backside like that with their ears pricked – you know they’re doing it well within themselves.”
Tizzy in the Sky, the 4-5 mutuel favorite, broke on top from post 3 and led the compact field of five through early fractions of 25.16 seconds and :48.71 over the fast main track with Spiked tracking from second position to the inside of Movie Moxy as 6-5 second choice Comparative raced in fourth after breaking a step slow and bumping with Towhead.
The pacesetter took the field into the final turn as Towhead advanced up the rail with Movie Moxy taking up the charge in second, while Spiked backpedaled through six furlongs in 1:12.28. Tizzy in the Sky opened up by six lengths at the stretch call and continued to find more, drawing clear to win by nine lengths in a final time of 1:49.56.
Movie Moxy completed the exacta by 4 3/4-lengths over the rail-running Towhead, who was a head in front of the belated charge of Comparative with a distant Spiked rounding out the order of finish.
Carmouche said he felt confident throughout, especially after Comparative missed the break.
“She really broke really sharp, and the race was over in the first turn,” Carmouche said. “She relaxed a little bit better in the post parade – Todd wanted me to keep her quiet a little bit. She was ready to run today, and I only had one horse to beat in the race [Comparative] and the horse broke bad; the race was over."
Tizzy in the Sky improved her solid Big A record to 7-4-2-0, including a maiden win and an allowance score in the fall of 2022 for her former conditioner Jose Camejo along with a 1 1/8-mile optional-claiming score in October in just her second start for Pletcher. She entered from a trio of efforts in stakes company, finishing second here in both the Turnback the Alarm (L) in November and Go for Wand (G3) in December ahead of a rallying last-out fourth after a troubled start in the Royal Delta (G3) on Feb. 17 at Gulfstream Park.
Don Orenstein of KimDon Racing said the sharp start made all the difference.
“That last race in Florida, she almost hit the ground, then she got bumped and was [seven and a half] lengths back,” Orenstein said. “At Gulfstream, it is extremely hard to make up ground, but she did come in the stretch and I guess it was a good prep for her, if you want to call it that. She's in great shape and hopefully we have bigger and better in front of us."
Orenstein said he is hopeful Tizzy in the Sky can continue to improve with an eye toward the $500,000 Ogden Phipps (G1) on Belmont Stakes Day June 8 at Saratoga Race Course. The 1 1/8-mile test for older fillies and mares offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) in November at Del Mar.
"Obviously Todd is going to call the shots on what we should do, but if we can run Belmont weekend up at Saratoga, it would be the dream come true, that is the cherry on top,” Orenstein said.
Bred in Kentucky by Westrock Stables, Tizzy in the Sky is out of the winning Tiznow mare Tiz the Tide. Her third dam, Sweet Damsel, produced dual Grade 1 winner Colonel John and dual Grade 1-winning steeplechaser Mr. Hot Stuff. Tizzy in the Sky banked $82,500 in victory while improving her record to 11-4-4-0. She returned $3.70 for a $2 win bet.
More must-reads: