Grade 1 Winner Tizway Dies In Turkey At Age 19

Tizway, a multiple Grade 1 winner and veteran sire, died at Karacabey Stud in Turkey, the Turkish publication Yaris Dergisi reports.

The 19-year-old son of Tiznow had resided in Turkey since 2019, bringing to an end a globetrotting career that saw him race in the U.S., Canada, and Japan, and stand at stud in the U.S., Korea, and Turkey.

Bred in Kentucky by Whisper Hill Farm, Tizway sold as a yearling to owner William Clifton Jr. for $140,000, and he was put in the barn of trainer H. James Bond.

Tizway was a somewhat slow starter, needing until his sixth start in the summer of his 3-year-old season to break his maiden. However, he begun to blossom at age four, becoming a dependable allowance-level horse in New York, and graduating to graded stakes company by the end of the season, where he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap and third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes.

His connections took him abroad to close out his 4-year-old campaign with an ambitious try the G1 Japan Cup Dirt. He finished 12th.

Tizway was unfazed by the international trip, coming back at five to win the G2 Kelso Handicap. 

He had his most successful season at age six, where he finished his career with Grade 1 triumphs in the Metropolitan Handicap and the Whitney Stakes. The horse was considered a favorite for the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic, but his career came to an end after he suffered a ligament injury in the days leading up to the race.

Tizway retired with seven wins in 20 career starts for earnings of $1,359,274.

He retired to Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky., for the 2012 breeding season.

During his time at Spendthrift, Tizway's resume was led by runners including Grade 2 winners Backyard Heaven and Way to Versailles, Grade 3 winners Ezmosh and The Critical Way, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up Coasted. He was also responsible for Venezuelan champion Gran Vanessa.

Tizway was sold to stand in Korea ahead of the 2018 breeding season, where his top runner has been the Group 2 Jjang Kong. He stood just one season in Korea, covering 24 mares.

In the meantime, his daughter The Last Romance was taking Turkey by storm, being named the country's champion 2-year-old filly of 2018 and taking home four year-end awards in 2019, including Horse of the Year.

During her watershed 3-year-old season, The Last Romance took home a pair of Group 1 races in her home country: the Gazi Derby and the Turkish Oaks.

At the same time, Arts Man, another son of Tizway, was making his own star in Turkey, notching Group 3 wins in 2019 and 2021.

With demand high for Tizway's services, breeder Nimet Arif Kurtel, who initially campaigned The Last Romance, purchased the stallion from his Korean connections in the summer of 2019. Because export rules prevented Tizway from shipping directly from Korea to Turkey, the stallion spent some time back in the U.S. at Elmendorf Farm in Kentucky before being delivered to his new owner.

Tizway's leading runner from his Turkish-sired progeny is Festival Fever, who finished second in last year's G2 Tyay Ve Stakes.

In total, Tizway has sired 10 crops of racing age, 277 winners and combined progeny earnings of more than $22.8 million.

Yaris Dergisi reports that Tizway covered 10 mares during the first two weeks of the 2024 breeding season prior to his death.