Sunday, January 25, 2009

Memories of Tuzla

Bob Baffert at Clockers' Corner, Santa Anita.

Today's Tuzla Handicap at Santa Anita, for fillies and mares 4 and up at a mile on the turf, must bring back sweet memories for trainer Bob Baffert, who completed a sweep of all five of Del Mar's grade 1 stakes in 1999 when Tuzla took the Ramona Handicap.

The memories are perhaps bittersweet for trainer Julio Canani, who sold Tuzla for owner David Milch just weeks before the Ramona Handicap to Robert and Janice McNair for a reported $1.3 million. Canani developed the French-bred Tuzla into a multiple stakes winner, including victories in the 1998 Palomar at Del Mar, the 1998 Dahlia at Hollywood Park, the 1999 Buena Vista at Santa Anita, and the 1999 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields.

Tuzla was retired in 2000 to the McNair's Stonerside Stable in Kentucky, which was sold last September to Darley Stud.

2 comments:

M.H. Adolphson, Jr. said...

Gosh, she was a very talented filly. Her son is no slouch, himself, and I expect him to make some noise in the Mile division this year.

David said...

I remember seeing her in person win the SF Mile at Golden Gate. It was one of those special days that has stayed with me.

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