Hayley Maree produced an astonishing fresh-up performance against a good 1400m open handicap field at Wingatui on Tuesday, but the quietly-spoken Tyler was not surprised.
And you get the feeling he thinks a bit of her.
''She's my Black Caviar,'' Tyler said.
''She's a freak. She's only going to get better.''
The Le Bec Fin mare climbed through the grades quickly last season, winning four of her seven starts, including the Miss Scenicland Stakes at Hokitika in January.
The Hokitika win came at a cost, though. She fractured her off-side front cannon bone during the running on her way to a half-length win over Elusive Tracy.
''An hour after the race she could hardly walk,'' Tyler said.
''We put her out and I got her in after two months.''
Time out in the paddock was the perfect rehabilitation for the 5yr-old mare, and X-rays came back clear.
The injury means Tyler will opt for softer tracks than he may have in the past with the mare, which he also owns.
''I was going to take her fresh-up to the Valachi Downs [on November 11], but she needs the cut in the track because of her injuries so I just elected to come here and look after her,'' he said.
''All going well, I might go to the Captain Cook Stakes maybe - she's pretty good.''
It is a long haul from Riverton to Trentham for the group 1 Captain Cook Stakes on December 5, but Tyler is confident of her abilities.
The next sentence - when asked how Winter Cup winner Timy Tyler was as the group 2 Coupland's Mile looms at Riccarton - would explain why.
''This thing would beat Timy any day but Timy is good as I can get him.''
