Almost twenty years later, this race still brings tears to my eyes for so many reasons. If you know the story of Tiznow, then you know what I'm talking about.
I had Tiznow a year earlier when he won the 2000 Classic. Sahkee actually did more in this race trying to become the first horse to pull off the Arc-Breeders' Cup double than Tiznow did in winning it.
This race still gives me goosebumps. A year after doing the same to another shipper from overseas, Giant's Causeway, and less than two months after 9/11, in New York, on a day that the American horses weren't winning, Tiznow saved the day. My all time favorite race horse. He overtook Cigar on the top of my list that day.
I was at Belmont for that. Crowd would have been bigger except there was an Anthrax scare at that time that caused many who planned to fly to New York for that BC to cancel because it was not known at the time if Anthrax was done by terrorists or others (it turned out to be some lonely type who did that).
BC stretch runs? Why put this race in that box? Tiznow, American, Sakhee, Godolphin and from the Middle East, whose expats destroyed two of America’s prized buildings and killed thousands of Americans a couple months before and the race was in the shadow of the fallen towers at Belmont? Tiznow was dead beat and found something from somewhere to get back up at the wire. This is the greatest stretch run in horse race history where irony and patriotism and competition and redemption all come together.
I have an AP photo of Tiznow and Sakkee at the 1/16th pole, and Tiznow was looking at Sakkee out of the corner of his eye as if to say...."There's no way I'm going to let you win this race!". It was there that Tiznow ducked his head a little lower, picked up his knees just a little higher, and emptied the tank....trying just a little bit harder. One of the most incredible displays of pure tenacity ever displayed by a horse that quite simply refused to lose.The Arc Winner Sakkee....The Defending BC Classic Champion and Horse of the Year Tiznow ....literally throwing it all down....a Stretch-drive for the ages.
Good evening Mister themanvj. You and I have some points in common. We like both Indianapolis 500 and Horse Racing. What a finish for a Breeder´s Cup Classic! Tiznow is one of the best thouroughbred horses of all time. Greetings from Venezuela.
He won because McCarron got him to finally switch leads inside the 1/16th pole. He'd been on his right lead all the way around the second turn and through the stretch. The instant he changed leads to his left foot he ducked in towards the rail and McCarron hand rode him from there to the wire. That lead change permitted him to put in one final burst to win.
He won on his right lead. He switched from left to right just after the turn (about 1:50) and stayed on his right til after the wire. It looks like McCarron just shook his stick at him a bit and he took off.
I am in my 70s and have loved horse racing since watching Native Dancer 60+ years ago. Whenever I need a lift I come and view this race. I loved Zenyatta, too, but nothing can ever match "here's the finish, desperately close, Tiznow wins it for America!"
I love your comment. My wife and I love Zenyatta and she knows horse racing thru that beautiful Mare and her great career but just today, I told her all about Tiznow and the backstory behind this race and she had tears in her eye’s when Durban yells “ Tiznow wins it for America!”. She has another favorite horse. Tiznow was so game that was behind and between two horses late down the stretch, he came back on, accelerated in a way that looks unbelievable... watching this brought me back.
@@davemcclung5972 Thanks, Dave. I am still in my 70s, still around, and still love horse racing. I often watch the Tiznow Breeder's Cup wins, many of Zenyatta's races, and another great one -- Mine That Bird in the 2009 Ky Derby, where the announcer does not even see him until he is 6 lengths in front!
Sammy2784 - My wife and I lived behind DelMar for about 5 years... so lucky those included the great ZENYATTA. We were able to see some of her greatest wins and while there is no call better than the call in her Classic win by Trevor Denman “one we will NEVER FORGET...”!! I must say that this is a close second - for the story, when and where it happened, hard to beat “He wins one for America!,,”
As year after year of this race goes by, the magnitude of what Tiznow achieved becomes clearer and clearer. He is still the only horse ever to win this race twice, which is remarkable when you consider the list of very good and even great horses who tried and failed to repeat their Classic victories. Concern, Arrogate, Zenyatta, Skip Away, Curlin, even Cigar; the fact that all of them failed in their bids for a second Classic win just goes to show how incredibly hard it is for a horse to be at the peak of their game two years in a row. And certainly no one who has seen Tiznow's two wins could claim that he didn't earn every bit of them. He was up against two strong fields, and had to fight down to the wire both times to prevail.
Wolfeson28 Well said I saw Tiznow at WinStar in 2007 and he came right to the fence and wanted attention. I was in awe. A big beautiful horse with such presence! I wanted to pet him but visitors are explicitly told NOT to try and pet stallions. While I understand this rule I do think Tiznow would have loved it! He stayed at the fence looking longingly as I walked away. He had such a personality!
And Zenyatta LOSS actually showed her true greatness. She did more in losing the 2010 classic to Blame than she did in any of her wins. Same here with Sahkee. As great as Tiznow was, Sahkee, trying to be the first horse to pull off the Arc-Breeders' Cup Double (which has been only done ONCE by Enable in 2018) actually showed more in this race trying dirt for the first time. I had Tiznow a year earlier in the 2000 Classic.
I agree with that!! everyone talks about how hard it is to win the triple crown, but to me, I think it's harder to win the Breeders Cup because they race against the best horses, and age doesn't matter!!
Tiznow was dead beat at the 3/16, got passed by the eventual second place horse and came between horses to win. All heart and has passed the running gene on to many generations since. One of my favorite horses of all time.
A great race. Tiz Now didn't have such a great year. But you never doubt the heart of a champion. Sakhee gave Tiz Now all he wanted. He just won the Arc not too long before this race and still turned in a great effort. And he was just a 3 year old against older. He had nothing to be ashamed of. This is what I always loved in horse racing. When to champions face off and give it all they had.
Forgot about this one. What a race!! Albert the Great ran an absolute monster race. He set a fast pace was stubborn down the stretch and could only get third money.
Someday another horse may win two Classics, but there will never be a horse who will match the raw courage that Tiznow displayed in back to back stretch drives. Never.
This race wasn't for the money but for the sake of a country and it's hope! Toms Durkins stretch drive call made that a real known fact. We needed this and America's horse fought on! America did so just like Tiznow! We came back stronger than ever, fought on, and won the battle. I know this seems odd to say under this video, but honestly it's what I think every time I watch and hear the race.
That was a true champion caliber race. I tried to hit a home run with Guided Tour at 20-1 but he could not match strides with the big boys. At the eighth pole I told my dad Tiznow was rerallying. You could just see he wasn’t going to let the Arc champion beat him. Epic call by Durkin.
I bet Tiznow because of a dream I had shortly before this race. In it Tiznow was an easy winner, and Jerry Bailey was riding him. Well, Bailey wasn't riding him, and the win was anything but easy, but my $50.00 win bet got me back almost $400.00! You're right...it was an epic call.
No race caller better than Tom Durkin. A lot of great ones, but none better. His tone and words fit the moment (except for one race, but no one's perfect).
Albert the great ran a huge race. Set the pace and tried to re break in stretch. I'll never forget this race. I played the pk6 to Tiznow singled. When I looked at my ticket before the race I noticed I hit 9 instead of 10. So I had Albert the great for the pk6. Then I had to put last $100 win on Tiznow. Deep stretch I wanted Albert the Great🤣🤣🤣 Sickening feeling when Tiznow won too. And to this day Tiznow is one of my favorites. Wasn't his fault I hit the wrong #. But I always respected how hard Albert the great ran.
Tiznow towered over Sakhee....gotta give props to the little Arc winner, small in stature, huge in heart....Tiznow was a monster of a horse...he had a little trouble, as large as he was making it through the gap betwen Albert the Great and Sakhee at the 1/8th pole, but once he manhandled his way through, Tiznow, as the great one's will do, got on his belly, and ran down the Arc winner who had gotten the jump on him...McCarron never drew his weapon, not once, and the massive son of Cee's Tizzy did not disappoint
except that one time he drew his weapon when he needed that burst. McCarron said he was desperate and Tiznow responded like he never did before. He hit Tiznow right at the 1/16th pole and it propelled him to the line.
Tiznow has now still been the very last horse to win BC Classic more than once. Sakhee ran 3 more races after this one, including the 2002 Dubai World Cup in which he finished 3rd behind Street Cry, which later became the sire of both Zenyatta and Winx.
The great Galileo finished 6th. Galileo was off form at the end of his career but has become the sire of 100 G1 winners including Frankel among others. Tiznow is the only horse to have won the BC Classic twice.
I was there too. I travelled from Scotland expecting Sakhee to do it because he had just won the Arc in testing conditions but Tiznow showed amazing grit to do it for a second time. I was gutted at the time but came to admire the fight in Tiznow. You have to admire how they both ran their hearts out - great animals. Hopefully it will live longer in the memory even now we are in such testing times with COVID-19.
I was there too, all the way from Scotland and I was backing Sakhee. Tiznow proved how tough he was because Sakhee was a tough animal and looked like he had Tiznow beaten so for him to come back the way he did just elevated him to greatness. This is the best finish I've witnessed - it's thrilling to watch it again!
I have to say if a horse wins the breeders cup classic back to back that's the equivalent of winning the tripple crown. This is why Tiznow is a all time great
@@christopherhoffman2515Sure it is because in at least the two races Tiznow ran in 2000 and 2001, look at the Euro greats he beat -- Giants Causeway, Sakhee, and Galileo. He raced against top class horses which isn't always true in the triple crowns races. Tiz was aces! ❤❤
The one and the ONLY thing that could have made this race even better would have been if Galileo had taken to the dirt and made it a line of three at the finish instead of two. Either way, I was and still am delighted America took this one. The meaning of it, the uplifting nature of it, and probably the greatest of all-time commentary. I'm British, but I have always enjoyed US racing. As much as I loved Sakhee, this one wasn't his destiny. New York and the entire USA needed Tiznow on this day. RIP to all those that lost their lives on 9/11.
Jay Robbins single-handedly (in consecutive years) told those europeans to hit the road. This race ranks fourth out of all the Breeders Cup Classic's. Zenyatta in 2009 ranks first, Tiznow in 2000 ranks second. Sunday Silence in 1989 ranks third.
That was a SERIOUSLY good, i mean, SERIOUSLY good field that year, even Galileo was in it , Sakhee first go on dirt and the GIANT Tiznow , duel classic winner
This race, by far, is the greatest Breeder's Cup race ever run. See when they turned for home, Sahkee's rider tried to block Tiznow behind Albert the Great, but Tiznow pushed Sahkee over and kept the hole open to go through. That is the greatest Breeder's Cup race ever.
Nope! Personal Ensign never raced the horses Winning Colors ran against, such as, Risen Star, Forty Niner, etc...and never raced Winning Colors when she was at her peak...always after Winning Colors was coming off a series of hard races. This race only shows a mere shell of what Winning Colors used to be. The males that Personal Ensign faced....were allowance quality bums. NOT Grade I winning top race horses. If personal Ensign was that great....she would have run in the Classic....like Azeri, Zenyatta, etc...... The distaff was a sad display of what once was a super-star ....run into the ground by too many hard races, unlike her competitor who was coddled and lightly raced and who beat nobody but an over-raced,, tired filly who should have been given the rest she deserved, instead of being asked, yet again, to perform a miracle well past her peak condition. This race was anything but great....it was pathetic. Great race mares run in the Classic. period!!!
D.Wayne was a former Quarterhorse trainer who ran many good, well bred Thoroughbred horses into the ground. He actually admitted how the experience with Tabasco Cat, brought him to a more humane understanding of his charges. The breed, flush with mares from lines deep in heat racing, used to support 20+ starts a year, starting twice or three times a month, etc. Two World Wars and ignorant inbreeding for showring sales, have since ravaged the soundness and durability of the Thoroughbred horse. D.Wayne seemed to have forgotten that, or he simply ignored it and relied on the high proportion of superior bloodstock his prestige brought to his stable.
Christopher Duganberry:Why do great race mares have to run in the Classic? You should know that it is much harder for females to win against G1 males on dirt than on grass, especially on North American tracks.Even Zenyatta won the Classic on a synthetic surface, not natural dirt.
That was my horse, back-to-back Breeders cup champion, no one has done that before, and not only that look how he won, great heart, only Cigar was better in my opinion!!
Sakhee wins the Arc and then plays his part in a great BC Classic, he was Hamdans horse before running in Godolphins colours. Now Hamdan is gone and possibly his best ever horse Baaeed is not running in the Arc or Breeders Cup.
Tiznow was an amazing horse, edging out sakhee and the iron horse, giants causeway, the previous year. In giants causeway's defence though, first time on dirt, kinane losing his whip at a crucial stage in the race. One can not help wonder if Tiznow come to the UK on grass - would have he run giants causeway as close. I very much doubt it. But we only have the facts to go on and Tiznow was indeed a battler and one of the most exciting and thrilling horses I have seen race.
History has a way of re-writing itself over the years, but Kinane never lost his whip. He had trouble switching from left hand to right hand late in the race, but he gives Giant's Causeway a right handed smack in the shadow of the wire. Did the delayed switch cost him? I don't know, but with two horses as dyed in the wool battlers as both were, one has to be glad the wire came up because they both would have killed themselves before giving the other an inch.
I'm not positive Tiznow would have defeated Giant's Causeway on UK turf, but I'm confident he'd make Giant's Causeway earn it. Tiznow was a big colt blessed with athleticism and an efficient stride, those traits usually display nicely on turf surfaces. Giant's Causeway became a great sire.
I love how nowadays Europeans criticize American jockeys for beating our racehorses to get them to run faster, but let's look at this finish with Chris McCarron giving Tiznow a beautiful hand ride, and Sakhee's jockey wielding his whip again and again.
American jockeys are the worlds best (I'm a brit). What I love about American racing is often the sheer guts of many U. S. Horses. There are many very good horses everywhere, however I've never been keen on how many British jockeys ride. They aren't aerodynamic and also can be untidy in the saddle. So, it's the great jockeys and brave horses in the U. S. For me. I'm not being unfair in my comments, just saying it how it is.
He hit him once about the sixteenth pole. Gotta look for it, but Chris has said he was in desperation mode and Tiznow gave him another gear when he hit him just that once.
@@WESSERPARAQUAT But I really think he deserved to have a much better, or, if it is possible, even a perfect ending for his racing career with at least his placing effort in this BC Classic, or even with a fierce battle with the first two finishers, including Tiznow.
@@myfrobert Surface is ALWAYS an important factor , Galileo did not show his true ability on the dirt he was not a dirt horse on grass in Europe Sakhee wouldn't get within 10L of him
@@WESSERPARAQUAT I understand. Maybe would've been better to have the Round 3 against Fantastic Light in that year's Breeders' Cup Turf instead of this one?
Tiznow was a dirt specialist, by contrast it was sakhee first run on dirt ,sakhee would have beaten tiznow on grass. You need leaner horses for grass ,tiznow is for heavy-duty. Still they were both good horses.
Great race, but I wonder how Tiznow would have fared against sakhee or Giants Causeway on a European track ? I'm not taking away from his superiority on dirt. I'm just saying it was a long journey for both European horses to make and race pon a surface that was alien to them. Still my favourite two races to watch (2000 & 2001). Top class racing
I think it's all in the horse itself -- look what Arrogate did in the 2017 Dubai World Cup. He was boxed out at the break, but continued on and settled, then turned on his speed when asked for it and crossed the finish line first. Tiznow was a tough horse. And smart. He did his own thing. He wanted to win so he did. Watch his documentary. Lots of insight into his complicated psyche.
Tiznow was a warrior! This race was missing the top three-year-old colt in America. A healthy Point Given would have loomed large at the 2001 BCC; but it wasn’t meant to be.
Picked up a leg injury in the Travers that wasn't discovered until a week after the race. Strained tendon that likely would have meant a year of rest and rehab if his career was to continue. Obviously with his stud fees on the line they opted to retire him immediately, but even if they hadn't there's no way he would have been fit for the Classic.
Watch the Tiznow documentary. Chris McCarron said he let Tiznow lead the way until the very end when he tapped him once to get that burst of speed that beat Sakhee. Horses are herd animals that like to run together. They don't care who wins!
If he would’ve squeezed him he would have been disqualified for interference with another horse and impeding another horse’s progress. So he still would’ve lost