Avanti Bello pulls clear at favorite distance in Tiznow

Avanti Bello took a steep drop in class and got back to his preferred distance in taking Sunday’s $100,000 Tiznow Stakes by 1 ¾ lengths under Flavien Prat. Trained by Doug O’Neill, the 5-year-old horse by Include got a flat mile in 1:35.95.

Breaking from the far outside in a field of seven older horses bred or sired in California, Avanti Bello, who was distanced here in the Grade II, 1 1/16 miles San Antonio Stakes on Feb. 4, broke alertly and was well within himself while procuring second position behind pacesetter Acceptance, who he tracked to the top of the lane, from where he took command.

“The first part of the race, we didn’t go that fast which is good for (Avanti Bello),” said Prat. “He doesn’t have a lot of speed the first part, but he needs to be right there at the end. With not a lot of speed, I didn’t have to rush him.”

Owned by Pablo Suarez, Steven Keh, Jim Richardson, Tom Roberts and Wonderland Racing Stables, Avanti Bello, who won last year’s Tiznow, was off at 3-1 and paid $8.00, $4.80 and $3.20.

Now five for 11 at a mile, Avanti Bello is now 23-6-3-6 overall and with the winner’s share of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $413,416.

“He won this race last year, so he’s a repeat winner,” said Leandro Mora, assistant to O’Neill. “He shows a lot of heart. Flavien knows this horse very well. This horse doesn’t have a huge kick and he knows you have to time it right. He’s a miler for sure.”

Ridden by Tyler Baze, Grazen Sky had two horses beat mid-way around the far turn and rallied for the place, finishing a half length in front of favored Solid Wager. Off at 6-1, Grazen Sky paid $5.60 and $3.60.

Off at 5-2 with Victor Espinoza, Solid Wager never threatened the winner while finishing third, one length in front of Acceptance and paid $2.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 24.12, 47.38, 1:10.87 and 1:23.08.