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Saturday’s Racing Insights: Performer Resurfaces, Bisou Half Debuts

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3rd-BEL, $70K, OC ($80K), 3yo/up, 1m, post time: 1:28 p.m. ET
Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm’s Performer (Speightstown) makes his belated first start of the year. The Shug McGaughey trainee has been off since winning his fourth straight (from five attempts) in Aqueduct’s nine-panel GIII Discovery S. Nov. 30. His third dam is MGSIW My Flag (Easy Goer), who in turn produced champion juvenile filly Storm Flag Flying (Storm Cat). TJCIS PPs

7th-KEE, $70K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f 184 ft., post time: 4:24 p.m. ET
Well-related firsters take on formidable runners with experience in this wide-open event. Woodford Thoroughbreds homebred Wicked Bisou (Wicked Strong) is a half to none other than recently retired MGISW and champion Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute). Woodford sold their GSW dam Diva Delite (Repent) for $750,000 in foal to Pioneerof the Nile at FTKNOV ’18–she brought $1.2 million in foal to Justify a year later. Tom Amoss will send out both Wicked Bisou and Miss Dial (Dialed In). The latter is a full-sister to MSW near millionaire and 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint runner-up Chalon. A $165,000 KEESEP yearling, she cost $310,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale off a swift :10 flat breeze. Steve Asmussen pupil Willful Woman (Nyquist), a $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad, is out of MSW/MGSP Foxy Danseur (Mr. Greeley), making her a half to former Asmussen trainee and 2017 GIII Fantasy S. heroine Ever So Clever (Medaglia d’Oro). TJCIS PPs

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Tiz the Law Preps for BC Classic

MGISW Tiz the Law (Constitution) breezed six furlongs in 1:12.26 (1/1) over the Belmont main track Friday morning in preparation for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7. The Empire-bred will be vanned to Kentucky Sunday to continue his preparations for the World Championships.

Under exercise rider Heather Smullen, Tiz the Law went in company with stablemate Niko’s Dream (Central Banker) (five furlongs in 1:01.05) before drawing away at the top of the lane. He recorded splits of :13.07, :24.84, :36.43, and :47.63 before galloping out seven furlongs in 1:25.46 and one mile in 1:40.05.

“He just goes out there and does his job,” Smullen said. “He was on the bridle, breaking off of her [Niko’s Dream] and then he decided ‘Well, it’s time to finish up’ and he just went on away from her. He does everything you expect a good horse to do.”

“We wanted him to settle next to [Niko’s Dream], which he did,” said trainer Barclay Tagg’s assistant and longtime partner Robin Smullen said. “They went the first three-eighths in 36 and 4. He galloped out seven-eighths in 1:25. He pulled up great, cooled out well.”

A decisive winner of the GI Belmont S. June 20, Tiz the Law was ultra-impressive when capturing the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 8 and was second in the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5. Connections chose to skip the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3 and train up to the Classic.

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Classic Plans: Tiz The Law Will Have Two Works At Keeneland Ahead Of Breeders’ Cup

Sackatoga Stable's New York-bred Tiz the Law recorded his final breeze over the Belmont Park main track on Friday in preparation for the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland Race Course. He registered six furlongs in 1:12.26 over a fast track.

Tiz the Law, who will ship to Keeneland by van on Sunday to continue his Breeders' Cup preparations, stepped foot onto the track just after 6:30 a.m. under overcast skies and a sliver of daylight, accompanied by stablemate and three-time winning filly Niko's Dream [five furlongs in 1:01.05] with trainer Barclay Tagg looking on from his pony.

Under exercise rider Heather Smullen, Tiz the Law went in company with Niko's Dream before drawing away at the top of the lane. He recorded splits of 13.07, 24.84, 36.43, and 47.63 before galloping out seven furlongs in 1:25.46 and one mile in 1:40.05.

“He just goes out there and does his job,” Smullen said. “He was on the bridle, breaking off of her [Niko's Dream] and then he decided 'Well, it's time to finish up' and he just went on away from her. He does everything you expect a good horse to do.”

Tagg's partner and longtime assistant, Robin Smullen, said she was very happy with the work.

“We wanted him to settle next to [Niko's Dream], which he did,” Smullen said. “They went the first three-eighths in 36 and 4. He galloped out seven-eighths in 1:25. He pulled up great, cooled out well.”

The move was the four-time Grade 1 winner's fourth work since finishing second in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby last month, where he finished three-quarters of a length to Authentic. He scored in his prior four starts this season in dominant fashion beginning with the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby, both at Gulfstream Park. Tiz the Law then posted a sensational 3 ¾-length victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20, where he became the first state bred to win the American Classic in 138 years, and followed with a triumph by 5 ½ lengths in Grade 1 Runhappy Travers on August 8 at Saratoga.

With three weeks out from the Breeders' Cup Classic, Tiz the Law will complete his final serious preparation for the classic-distance event at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, where this year's event is scheduled to be held from November 6-7.

Smullen said Tiz the Law tends to run better when he has time to get acclimated to new surroundings.

“He seems like he's at his best when he does,” Smullen said. “His best race was at Saratoga and we were there for a few weeks before we actually ran in the Travers, and that was his best race by far. In Florida, he had to ship down to Gulfstream [from Palm Meadows Training Center] and we breezed him there. His first race was good, but the Florida Derby was better.

“His second race going over the track was better,” she added. “We didn't take him back down to breeze him. We kept him at Palm Meadows. Looking at it from that standpoint this far out from what we know now, his best races are when he has a couple of works over the track. We discussed that and decided the best we could possibly do for him is give him two works over that track.”

Smullen praised Tiz the Law for his intelligence and being able to place himself right where he needs to be, building a rapport with jockey Manny Franco.

“If you watch his replay in the Belmont, Manny is just sitting there and leaves him alone. If he breaks and he's good, he'll place himself,” Smullen said. “He's not grabbing, he's not rank, he's going to place himself where he's comfortable and Manny is smart enough to see what's going on. If it's real slow and Tiz automatically moves up, you're not going to say 'Hey, I don't want you to move,' you're going to sit there because Tiz is just going to be running his race.

“From a jockey's standpoint, he's got to be one of the easiest horses to ride,” Smullen continued. He always puts you where you need to be. We'll just have to see what our post is and take it from there, but I think he's tactical enough where he can do whatever he wants to do.”

A $110,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearling Sale, the Constitution bay has amassed $2,615,300 in purse earnings. Bred in the Empire State by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law is out of the graded stakes winning Tiznow mare Tizfiz.

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One More Race for the Partners in a `Horse of a Lifetime’

After Uni (GB) (More Than Ready)’s five-year-old campaign which concluded in the Champion Turf Female award, bloodstock advisors suggested to the partners in her ownership group that it might be time to retire and sell her. After all, the owners had probably already gotten more than they had bargained for: they had campaigned her at 3, 4, and 5, and watched her win three Grade I stakes as well as Grade II, Grade III and Listed events.

But, “Sol and I are and Bobby are racing guys,” said Michael Dubb of the decision made by him and partners Sol Kumin and Bob LaPenta to bring her back for one more year. “We want to race and she’s six years old now. Typically these broodmares are retired at five. And against the advice of bloodstock agents, we went ahead and raced her at six years old because we had so much fun winning the Breeders’ Cup once with her, and so we said, “Why not try to do it again?” So she will be pointing to the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland–the mile race against the boys.”

The decision to keep her in training for one more year has already proven to be a sound one, as Uni picked up her fourth Grade I win in Keeneland’s First Lady last out, had another Grade I placing earlier in the year, and has earned almost a quarter-million dollars in 2020. She’ll head into the Breeders’ Cup Mile as one of the top choices before selling at Fasig-Tipton November as Hip 228 for Elite Sales.

For Dubb, there’s another reason to keep her around for this year’s Breeders’ Cup: he was unable to see her 2019 win in person, and instead watched it on his iPhone standing on 10^th Street in Manhattan.

“I could not be there last year because it was my daughter’s engagement party in New York City,” said Dubb. “I had to walk out of the restaurant and watch the race on my iPhone leaning on the hood of somebody’s car. And fortunately, my son walked out to see what his crazy dad was doing and to see the bedlam that was ensuing on 10th Street when the horse crossed the wire and made that tremendous come-from-behind run. So that was truly the greatest moment, but there have been so many with Uni.”

Uni was bred by Nicolas de Chambure’s Haras d’Etreham, and Dubb and Kumin bought into her early in her three-year-old year on the recommendation of Nicolas de Watrigant and Bradley Weisbord. She remained in France for her two races for the new ownership group, winning the Prix Matchem at Maisons-Laffitte against colts. Transferred to Chad Brown’s barn at Belmont in June, 2017, she was third first out in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational. The new owners bought out de Chambure, added Bob LaPenta to their group, and were off to the races.

Since that time, Uni has been consistently brilliant, winning four Grade Is, turning in a perfect four-for-four year in 2018, and was three-for-four in 2019 with a Breeders’ Cup win. Overall, she has won 10 of 17 starts and earned over $2.5 million.

Her win in the Breeders’ Cup Mile against males puts her in a rarefied air, as she joined some of the great race fillies and mares of all time in the feat, including Miesque, Goldikova and Tepin, becoming just the seventh filly or mare to win the race.

Her consistency and durability have been defining qualities, with her owners enjoying successful three, four, five and six-year-old seasons with her.

“We’ve watched and enjoyed Uni over an extended period of time,” said Fasig-Tipton CEO Boyd Browning. “She has maintained her form at the Grade I level for four seasons now. It was really interesting and really cool to see the performance that she put on recently in the First Lady, coming back and winning another Grade I in 2020 against an outstanding field. She’s been durable, she’s been consistent, but she’s also been brilliant. Those are certainly some of the characteristics that everyone’s looking for from a broodmare prospect with the potential that she would have on a long-term basis.”

Moreover, said Browning, she offers a rather unique pedigree.

“One of the things that’s really intriguing about Uni is her pedigree,” he said. “Not only is she by More Than Ready, who’s certainly become a sire who has had worldwide great success, both in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, but she’s out of a Dansili (GB) mare whose dam is by Generous. I think that you’ve got a really unique opportunity to kind of craft and create your own vision to utilize those bloodlines.

“It’s a great outcross pedigree, and it’s a family full of significant runners for many, many, many generations. But you’ve really got an opportunity to kind of put your fingerprint on it, and create a legacy that should hopefully endure for generations to come.”

For Dubb and his partners, though, enjoying her for these past four seasons has been the ride of a lifetime.

“Looking forward, we hope she can be a two-time winner against the boys of the Breeders’ Cup Mile,” he said. “And I will be at the Breeders’ Cup with my binoculars in my hands, cheering and clapping. But whether she does it or not, she has given us indescribable pleasure and joy.

“If you’re in the game as long as I am,” Dubb said, “this kind of horse sticks out. She’s really special. She’s the horse of a lifetime.”

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