Disco Time looked like he could be a horse of any kind Nov. 8, prompting a heated pace before drawing away to win the $186,000 Dwyer Stakes in a scintillating performance at Aqueduct Racetrack.
A homebred for Juddmonte Farm, the son of Not This Time may have missed most of his 3-year-old campaign with a setback, but appears to be more than a serious contender in next year's older horse division. The four-horse Dwyer, recently downgraded this year to listed status, was the third straight stakes win for the undefeated Disco Time. After winning his first two starts as a 2-year-old in November 2024, the Brad Cox trainee rallied to take the Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in January. The talented dark bay wouldn't surface again until the Sept. 18 St. Louis Derby, where he cruised to a facile victory off the layoff.
Facing one of his toughest fields yet in the Dwyer, tackling multiple stakes winner Tip Top Thomas, stakes victor Crudo, and upstart allowance winner Stars and Stripes, Disco Time turned in the finest effort of his career with a dominating 9 3/4-length score.
Ridden by Florent Geroux, Disco Time closely tracked the front-running Tip Top Thomas behind blistering early fractions of :22.27 and :44.56 before collaring the pacesetter around the turn for home. Disco Time ($4.44) was in a league of his own down the lane, hitting the wire in a hand ride under Geroux in a sharp final time of 1:33.86 for the mile on a fast main track.
"An amazing horse," Geroux said of Disco Time. "The sky is the limit for him. He ran a very fast speed figure last time off the layoff, so the connections gave him plenty of time to recover from that effort. Today, he was back with a bang again—a very exciting horse for the future."
Crudo, Tip Top Thomas, and Stars and Stripes completed the order of finish in a race with two scratches.
Video: Dwyer S. (BT)
Tiz Dashing Breaks Through With First Graded Score
Wearing the same silks carried by his sire to victory in the Belmont Stakes (G1) five years ago, Tiz Dashing charged under the wire to capture his first black-type win in the $200,000 Hill Prince Stakes (G3T).
Tiz Dashing became the fifth and newest graded stakes winner for Ashford Stud second-crop stallion Tiz the Law . Both father and son were trained by Barclay Tagg for Sackatoga Stables.
"It's very special (to win with a son of Tiz the Law)," said Sackatoga Stable's Jack Knowlton. "This horse (Tiz Dashing) is the only time we've ever bought a weanling. I was with the Coolmore guys at the sale, and they told me, 'Jack, that's the horse you want to buy.' They were right."
Sackatoga Stables purchased Tiz Dashing for $215,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale.
Trying 1 1/8-miles for the first time in his career, Tiz Dashing was parked wide for most of the journey, racing three-wide for much of the race. As Noble Confessor rolled unchallenged through opening splits of :23.34, :48.46, and 1:12.37, jockey Javier Castellano waited for just the right time before pulling the trigger on his willing companion.
Noble Confessor continued to show the way into the stretch until Tiz Dashing ranged alongside that rival late with a spirited kick around the final bend. The pair duked it to the wire with Tiz Dashing prevailing by a neck over the stubborn frontrunner.
Tiz Dashing ($17.46) stopped the clock in 1:48.23 over a firm turf course.
Longshot Church and State completed the trifecta.
"Javier (Castellano) gave him a spectacular ride—it was exactly what we had hoped for, put him in a nice spot," Knowlton said. "A mile and an eighth—we weren't sure—it's the longest he's gone, but we decided to take a shot."
