Alabama Profile: Tizahit
A victory by Tizahit in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Betfair TVG Alabama would provide the perfect 35th wedding anniversary for her owners Jim and Susan Hill, who could pick up their second triumph in a major race over a six-day span.
Miami Deco gave the Hills their most lucrative triumph to date in Sunday’s $483,172 Breeders’ Stakes – the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown – at odds of 65-1, but the outcome wasn’t entirely unexpected to the residents of Calgary, Alberta.
“We knew winning was a long shot, but we did think we had a chance,” said Jim Hill, director, president, and CEO of Pason, an oilfield supply company that’s publically traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. “Miami Deco’s best Beyer was in the 80s, pretty much the same as everybody else in the field. We had to supplement him for $12,000, too, which we wouldn’t have done if we didn’t think he had a chance.”
Despite their Classic success, the Hills remain relative newcomers to the sport, having made their foray into thoroughbred ownership in 2004.
“I was aware of horse racing back then, but never had been involved in it,” said Jim Hill. “We have an interest an art, and we attended the show of a dealer whose husband was involved in racing. He talked me into a 50/50 partnership on four horses.”
The Hills’ racing operation has expanded greatly since then.
“We are into racing fairly seriously as we own 40 to 50 horses and are active buyers at the sales, so we were hoping something like winning the Breeders’ Stakes would eventually happen,” said Jim Hill.
Tizahit, who became the Hills’ first graded stakes winner when she won the Grade 2 Demoiselle last November, will attempt to provide the couple with their first Grade 1 victory when she competes in the Betfair TVG Alabama, which has attracted division leaders Devil May Care and Blind Luck. Despite the formidable competition, The Hills – who will not be able to witness the race in person having already made other plans for their anniversary – remain hopeful their good fortune will continue.
“It’d be really exciting and incredibly lucky to win both the Breeders’ and the Alabama, luckier than most people will ever be,” said Jim Hill. “I think she is going to run better than people expect her to do. I’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t outrun her odds.”