Tyler's Tribe, who had been expected to return in the April 1 Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park after two instances of respiratory bleeding last year, will instead race in an easier $103,000 allowance March 30 at the Arkansas oval. The one-mile, two-turn race is restricted to 3-year-olds who have not won a race other than maiden, claiming, starter, or state-bred at a mile or longer.
Running in the allowance allows him to compete with the race-day medication Lasix.
Tyler's Tribe, a standout Iowa-bred, won his first five races by open lengths last year at Prairie Meadows, four of them stakes, but none beyond six furlongs under regular jockey Kylee Jordan. The Sharp Azteca gelding then was eased when bleeding while competing without Lasix in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) at Keeneland and bled again when third when racing with the diuretic in the Advent Stakes Dec. 9 at Oaklawn. He then received a month's break at a nearby farm.
"I think the distance is going to be better for the bleeding," said trainer Tim Martin, who co-owns the 3-year-old with Thomas Lepic. "If there's speed in there, I think he'll rate. Kylee said he'll rate. She's always said that.
"He's good. He's come back good. I've scoped him after every work. Clean as a whistle."
The opposition in Thursday's race, the seventh on the card, is led by the stakes-placed Gun Runner colt Echo Again.
