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Martin, Trainer of Tyler’s Tribe, Joins Writers’ Room Podcast

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The 2-year-old gelding Tyler’s Tribe (Sharp Azteca) is the fastest horse in Iowa–maybe the fastest horse ever to come out of the Hawkeye State–and has won his five career starters by a combined 59 3/4 lengths. But does that make him good enough to win a Breeders’ Cup race? The Green Group Guest of the Week on this week’s TDN Writers’ Room presented by Keeneland was his co-owner and trainer Tim Martin, and when the big event rolls around, he’ll be going into the race with confidence.

“For me, it’s going to be different, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’ve never had a horse who can run at this level. I’m only doing this because of this horse. I never wanted to just go to the Breeders’ Cup. I only wanted to go if I had a legitimate shot. This is a really nice horse, and I think we have a shot. He’s fast. He just gallops when everyone else is running. I know there will be some really good horses in there, but we don’t know what we’ve got because no one has ever challenged him.”

How good is Tyler’s Tribe, who is an Iowa-bred?

“We just don’t know,” he said. “Every time the rider [Prairie Meadows’ leading jockey Kylee Jordan] rides him, she comes back and tells us she had more horse, that she wasn’t even asking him to run. Every time she says he had more left. So I don’t know how fast he could go. He runs with them and then when they get to the lane he just takes off.”

Martin said it’s likely that Tyler’s Tribe will run in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. He has never run on the grass, but Martin doesn’t believe the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile is a good fit because his horse has never run beyond six furlongs.

“I’m leaning toward the short race,” he said of the 5 1/2-furlong heat. “If I were going to experiment with him, I would have liked to do it before a big race. I know he’s fast. I know he’s super fast, so I’m thinking our best chance is the turf race. I think he will like the turf. There is turf in his pedigree. He’s got some siblings who have done well on the turf. I know he’s fast and that he can run short. Long? I just don’t know. It would be hard to stretch him out right now.”

Martin said he and co-owner Tom Lepic have fielded plenty of offers to sell the horse, but have told everyone the answer is no. One of the reasons is a sentimental one. The horse is named after Lepic’s grandson, Tyler, whose long battle with leukemia has turned a corner of late.

“I’ve had some good offers for him,” Martin said. “But I’ve never had a horse anywhere close to this in my career, and he’s named after Tyler. We never wanted to sell him and it doesn’t matter what the offers have been. We had a couple offers for $500,000. They could have offered $1 million. We still wouldn’t be interested. He’s not for sale. We’re having fun and I’ve always said you can’t put a price on fun.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV, Three Chimneys, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the Writer’s Room unveiled its new lineup, which consists of Bill Finley, Randy Moss and Zoe Cadman. The trio went over last week’s big races and the controversy surrounding Sonny Leon and his ride aboard Rich Strike (Keen Ice) in the GII Lukas Classic S. and his subsequent suspension. The win by Life Is Good (Into Mischief) in the GI Woodward S. was also part of the discussion, with Moss saying the race may have been better than it looked at first glance. The team also reviewed the GI Awesome Again S., won by Defunded (Dialed In), and Christophe Soumillion’s antics in France and looked ahead at this weekend’s blockbuster lineup of graded stakes and preps for the Breeders’ Cup.

Click here to watch the show or click here for the audio-only version.

The post Martin, Trainer of Tyler’s Tribe, Joins Writers’ Room Podcast appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Gulfstream Announces Significant Purse Increases for Championship Meet

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Gulfstream Park’s 2022-23 Championship Meet will feature significant purse increases for maiden special weight and allowance races, the track announced Wednesday. The signature meet, gets underway Dec. 26. Gulfstream also announced substantial purse increases for the same conditions during the current Sunshine Meet from Dec. 1 through Dec. 24.

Gulfstream’s Championship Meet will once again feature Pegasus World Cup Day with the $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., $1-million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. and $500,000 GIII Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf S., as well as the $1-million GI Florida Derby Apr. 1 and $400,000 GII Fountain of Youth S. Mar. 4.

Maiden special weight purses will total $84,000 (including $14,000 from FTHA-FOA) beginning opening day of the Championship Meet Dec. 26–an increase of $24,000. Allowance races will total $86,000-$88,000 (including $14,000 from FTHA-FOA)–an increase of $25,000.

The Sunshine Meet’s December calendar will see maiden special weight purses total $70,000 ($10,000 from FTHA-FOA) and allowance purses total between $71,000-$73,000 ($10,000 from FTHA-FOA). Increases will be $10,000.

December will also mark the start of racing on Gulfstream’s new turf course, which has been enhanced with new drainage and irrigation systems.

The post Gulfstream Announces Significant Purse Increases for Championship Meet appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.