By Bill Finley
Can an Iowa-bred who sold for just $34,000 as a yearling, one who has never raced outside Prairie Meadows or in a graded stakes race, an Iowa-bred that is ridden by a female apprentice jockey and named for an 8-year-old who has been battling leukemia win a Breeders' Cup race? We are about to find out.
Tyler's Tribe (Sharp Azteca) may not be the best 2-year-old in training, but no juvenile anywhere this year has thrashed his competition to the extent that this gelding has. After winning last Saturday's Prairie Meadows Freshman S. by 15 1/2 lengths, Tyler's Tribe's improved his record to 4-for-4 and has won his starts by a combined 53 1/4 lengths. It was after his last performance that his connections announced that Tyler's Tribe will be pointed to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
With any horse who is beating up on suspect competition, there is always the worry that they will crash once asked to face better. That could be the case with Tyler's Tribute, but his Beyer Speed Figures say otherwise. He got a 94 Beyer in the Prairie Meadows Freshman, which is tied for the third-best number given to any 2-year-old so far this year.
“We think he is the real deal,” said co-owner Tom Lepic. “We don't know how good he is because he's never been pushed. We know right now that he is awfully, awfully good, but he could be a lot better than he has shown. We just don't know.”
It was Lepic who discovered the horse at the Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners' Association Fall Mixed Sale 2021 and told his trainer and now co-owner Tim Martin that this was a horse he had to have.
“The only reason we bought him was because of what he looked like,” Martin said. “If you saw the picture of him we saw you'd know what I'm talking about. He looked like a horse who'd be selling for a lot in Kentucky. You won't see many yearlings anywhere who looked better than he did. He just stood out.”
What Martin and Lepic didn't know at the time was that the horse's pedigree was a lot better than anyone could have imagined. He is from the first crop of Three Chimneys' white-hot stallion Sharp Azteca, who has performed well above expectations and has turned his $5,000 stud fee into one of the biggest bargains in the breeding industry. Sharp Azteca is the leading North American freshman sire in terms of wins and winners.
By June, Martin had Tyler's Tribe ready and put him in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race at Prairie Meadows for Iowa-breds. With apprentice Kylee Jordan aboard, he won by 16 3/4 lengths.
“Before he ran, I thought he was something special. But how special?” Martin said “You just don't know until they race.”
He then won an open stakes by 8 1/2 lengths and a stakes for Iowa-breds by 12 1/2. The offers from bloodstock agents were rolling in, but Martin and Lepic decided early on that their star was not for sale. One of the reasons why Lepic wouldn't consider offers for the horse is the sentimental value attached to his name. He is named after his grandson, who was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago. He reports that his grandson has made steady progress and is as healthy now as he has been at any point since the diagnosis.
“Tim told me that he had no desire to sell him, that he was the best horse he's ever trained,” Lepic said. “We immediately decided that it didn't make any difference what offers we got, we weren't going to sell him. I told Tim that horse meant so much to our family, with him being named after my grandson and with him being such a blessing to us and everyone around us. We are fortunate enough financially that we don't need to sell him.”
The plan now is to run the horse one more time before the Breeders' Cup, in the Oct. 1 Iowa Cradle, a $100,000 stakes for Iowa breds at Prairie Meadows. Ideally, there would be a Breeders' Cup sprint race on the dirt for 2-year-olds, but that isn't an option. So Martin, who says he's not ready just yet to try the horse at longer distances, plans to try him on the turf for the first time in the Breeders' Cup.
“I think we'll be fine on the turf,” Lepic said. “We've seen other Sharp Aztecas win on the grass and our plan is to get to Keeneland for the Breeders' Cup about a month out from the race and get him settled in. That should give us enough time to get him ready for the turf.”
Then there's the jockey. Jordan was the leading rider earlier this year at Will Rogers Downs and currently leads the Prairie Meadows standings with 58 wins. Not only has she never ridden in a Breeders' Cup race, she has all of one career mount in a graded stakes. And she's an apprentice. No apprentice jockey has ever won a Breeders' Cup race. Martin and Lepic could easily sign up one of the top riders in the sport, but Martin said the plan is to stick with Jordan.
“I feel like she knows the horse and he knows her,” he said. “They've been together since he got to the track and she started breezing him. I like her riding style. She is relaxed and she calms horses down when she gets on them. She just has a way with horses that I like. I never rode girls much before, but when I saw her first starting riding I really liked her. I prefer to stay with her. She knows the horse and hasn't done anything wrong, so we are going to go with her.”
Tyler's Tribe should win his next start no problem and then the questions can begin all over again. He could be a plucky underdog who falls short in the big leagues or a horse who, no matter who he is by, where he is from, and who he is ridden by, is just a very good, very fast horse. What will it be?
“I don't know how good he is,” Martin said. “He's never been challenged, so it's hard to say. I can't wait to find out.”
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