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Classic Winner Tiz the Law Retired

Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz the Law (Constitution–Tizfiz, by Tiznow), winner of the GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. this summer, has been retired from racing. It was announced shortly after the Belmont that the sophomore colt would stand at Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud upon retirement.

“The entire Tiz The Law team is deeply disappointed that Tiz The Law will be unable to race as a 4-year-old as planned,” stated Jack Knowlton, Operating Manager of Sackatoga Stable. “He has provided the 35 owners a unique opportunity to compete and succeed at the highest level of Thoroughbred racing. His impressive victory in the GI Travers at Saratoga Race Course was particularly rewarding for the Saratoga based stable. Sackatoga Stable is looking forward to the next chapter of his career as a stallion.”

“From day one when he broke his maiden at Saratoga we have been watching him closely and he has everything you look for in a stallion prospect,” said Coolmore America manager Dermot Ryan. “He has an outstanding race record, he’s a very good-looking individual and he boasts a strong pedigree. [Trainer] Barclay Tagg, [assistant trainer] Robin Smullen and their team have done a fantastic job with him and we are also grateful to Jack Knowlton and his partners in Sackatoga Stable for letting us be a part of him.”

Bred in New York by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law began his 2-year-old season with a 4 1/4-length maiden special weight win at Saratoga, then came back for another open daylight victory in Belmont’s GI Champagne S. The connections immediately announced the striking bay would skip the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, held that year at Santa Anita, in favor of the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs in order to get a start over the track to prepare for the 2020 Kentucky Derby. The track came up sloppy and Tiz the Law finished third in the Kentucky Jockey Club in what would be his only loss in his first seven career starts.

Trainer Barclay Tagg regrouped and Tiz the Law was unstoppable through this spring and summer despite the interrupted racing schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He reeled off consecutive, powerful wins in the GIII Holy Bull S. and GI Curlin Florida Derby, as well as in the aforementioned Belmont and Travers. Tiz the Law was the first New York-bred to win the Belmont since 1882.

Second in the rescheduled GI Kentucky Derby to likely champion Authentic (Into Mischief), Tiz the Law was last seen finishing off the board behind that same foe in the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. He retires with a record of 9-6-1-1 and earnings of $2,735,300.

“While it is unfortunate that Tiz’s racing career has been cut short, we have been extremely fortunate and blessed to have had him in our lives,” said trainer Barclay Tagg. “Robin and I were able to pick him out and train him to win the Grade I Champagne as a 2-year-old and three Grade I races [Florida Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers] as well as run 2nd in the Kentucky Derby this year. He has taken his owners and Barclay Tagg Racing Stable to places that most owners and trainers only dream about. We look forward to his career as a Stallion with Ashford Stud.”

The four-time Grade I winner will now join two other Belmont S. winners from the last five years at Ashford, which also stands Triple Crown winners American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and Justify (Scat Daddy) in Versailles, Kentucky.

Tiz the Law’s dam won the 2009 GII San Gorgonio H. and is a full-sister to 2014 GIII Precisionist S. winner and GISP Fury Kapcori. Her granddam is a half-sister to 1997 Horse of the Year Favorite Trick (Phone Trick).

Tiz the Law’s stud fee will be $40,000 and he will be available for inspection at Ashford starting Jan. 4.

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New York-Bred Niko’s Dream Rallies Wide For My Charmer Score At Gulfstream

Sackatoga Stable's Niko's Dream, placed in three previous stakes over the past two years, became a stakes winner for the first time with a 13-1 upset of the $75,000 My Charmer Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Jockey Junior Alvarado, riding for trainer Barclay Tagg, settled the 4-year-old Central Banker filly Niko's Dream alone in fifth as Piedi Bianchi ran a quarter-mile in 23.41 seconds and a half in 46.79 pressed by 2019 Tropical Park Oaks winner Our Bay B Ruth with 3-2 favorite Lady Lawyer and 35-1 long shot Great Sister Diane also in the top group.

Niko's Dream found herself surrounded by Grade 3-placed Art of Almost to the inside and Tuned on her right midway on the far turn when she kicked into high gear. Steered to the far outside by Alvarado, Niko's Dream collared Art of Almost at the top of the stretch and edged clear with plenty left to hold off a late bid from Tuned. The winning time was 1:41.82 for 1 1/16 miles over the good turf.

“I had a great trip. The whole way around, I was happy where I was,” Alvarado said. “I made my move when I wanted to and had to make sure she was in the clear on the outside. I've been riding her for a while, so I knew she likes to make a nice move on the outside. It worked out perfect today.”

Tuned beat Art of Almost for second, followed by Piedi Bianchi, Our Bay B Ruth, Lady Lawyer and Great Sister Diane.

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Connections Hope Tiz The Law Heats Up Again In South Florida Sun

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law gave an early indication of what was to be a special sophomore season when he put together back-to-back impressive efforts over the winter in winning the Holy Bull (G3) and Curlin Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

The New York-bred, owned and trained by the same connections as 2003 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winner Funny Cide, went on to give his connections a measure of redemption by winning the Belmont (G1) – a race where Funny Cide ran third – and satisfaction with a powerhouse performance in the Travers (G1), which a fever forced Funny Cide to miss.

Though Tiz the Law's 2020 campaign ended with back-to-back losses in the Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) to fellow sophomore Authentic, wresting away the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male and possibly even Horse of the Year, the bay Constitution colt is back in South Florida and already working on his encore.

“The 35 partners in Tiz the Law have the horse of a lifetime. Only Lew Titterton and I had what we thought was the horse of a lifetime in Funny Cide,” Sackatoga managing partner Jack Knowlton said. “We've got 33 people that have had the ride of a lifetime and hopefully the ride is going to continue [next] year. That's what we're looking forward to.”

Tiz the Law has already made an impression since his arrival in South Florida three days after the Breeders' Cup. In his first work back, he breezed four furlongs in 47.90 seconds Nov. 21 at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, for trainer Barclay Tagg.

“They were just going to give him an easy work, maybe around 50 [seconds]. I don't think Tiz heard that,” Knowlton said. “I go back to the famous saying that Allen Jerkens had when Funny Cide was around, 'Fast horses work fast.' He just does it so easily.”

Tiz the Law is being pointed to make his 4-year-old debut in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) Jan. 23, the richest of seven graded-stakes worth $4.8 million on the Pegasus Day program that includes the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1).

Knowlton's winter residence is a 15-minute walk from Gulfstream, and he has been fortunate to be in attendance since Arrogate set the 1 1/8-mile track record of 1:46.83 when the Pegasus debuted in 2017. Funny Cide ran third in the 2004 Donn Handicap (G1), predecessor to the Pegasus.

“It's obviously a thrill. My winter home for tracks is Gulfstream and I've been to every Pegasus, and being able to have a horse that actually runs in it will be beyond exciting,” Knowlton said. “We've had some great opportunities starting with the Holy Bull at Gulfstream which got us kicking off and then winning the Florida Derby which is obviously a huge, huge deal. Now we'll come back and try and get the biggest of the big races, the Pegasus.”

Tiz the Law was already a Grade 1 winner when he got to Florida last year, having won the Champagne (G1) in his second career start before capping his juvenile campaign running third in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2). He won the Holy Bull by three lengths and the Florida Derby by 4 ¼ and didn't race again until the June 20 Belmont, which kicked off a Triple Crown refashioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

“It's been a big deal all year. We go back to the Holy Bull, where we felt redemption was in order after we lost the Kentucky Jockey Club, and obviously that worked well. We were able to have all our people there and we were able to have one of the times of our lives,” Knowlton said. “Then the pandemic hit and they ran the Florida Derby and they ran the Belmont so we weren't able to be there, but he reeled off three Grade 1 races last year. Every race he's been in, astoundingly to me, even in the Breeders' Cup Classic he was the favorite. As we all know that didn't go well.”

Coming off a runner-up finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1), where he appeared poised to strike throughout the stretch but never got by, Tiz the Law drew Post 2 and was unable to get to his preferred spot outside horses until it was too late and wound up sixth. He finished with four graded-stakes wins, three Grade 1, from six starts in 2020 – both his losses coming to Authentic.

“We've been very fortunate. They only real glitch we had was that he came out of the Derby just kind of sore and we couldn't make the Preakness. But other than that we've been really blessed,” Knowlton said. “He's been sound and ready to go, ready to hit all the races we hoped except the Preakness. That was just giving him some time and that's what we did. We thought we had him all primed for the Breeders' Cup.

“Talking to Barclay and [exercise rider] Heather [Smullen], they felt he was ready to run the same kind of race he ran in the Travers. Unfortunately the trip that he got was not desirable by any stretch,” he added. “It was a disappointing end to what had been an absolutely spectacular year.”

When Tiz the Law returns for the Pegasus he'll have the services of Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, replacing Manny Franco. Velazquez rode Authentic to his wins in the Derby and Breeders' Cup as well as a runner-up finish in the Preakness (G1).

“I don't think there's a better money jockey that exists,” Knowlton said. “That's one of the great things about Johnny. Johnny's been on the horse. He worked the horse last year and he's been in races against him several times. He knows the horse. He'll know what he's got under him and we're excited to have him join the Tiz team.”

Tiz the Law will stand at Ashford Stud in Kentucky upon retirement, whenever that comes, and until then the plan is to target some of the most prestigious races for older horses starting with the Pegasus and hopefully leading up to a return trip to the Breeders' Cup.

“As long as he keeps running the way he's been running, he'll run hopefully right to Del Mar at the end of [2021],” Knowlton said.

The success of Tiz the Law, a $110,000 yearling purchase that has earned more than $2.7 million in purses through nine starts, has allowed Sackatoga to expand its modest portfolio. The Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based syndicate has six horses in training.

“We love Palm Meadows as a place to train our horses,” Knowlton said. “We actually bought some more horses than we usually do so we've got six horses at Palm Meadows now and three young ones up in Ocala, so hopefully we're going to be doing some more racing at Gulfstream than normal this year.”

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Tiz the Law Confirmed for Pegasus, Franco Sacked

Confirming a report from Bill Finley in the Nov. 11 edition of the TDN, Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz the Law (Constitution) will train on in 2021 as a 4-year-old, with the $3-million GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park Jan. 23. In a release pushed across its social media channels Thursday afternoon, Sackatoga announced that Manny Franco, who had ridden Tiz the Law to victories in the GI Curlin Florida Derby, GI Belmont S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. and to a runner-up effort to Authentic (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby, would be replaced by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez.

In last Saturday’s GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, Tiz the Law broke alertly from gate two, but was taken hold of by Franco to sit behind the pacesetting Authentic. He came under pressure with about three furlongs to race and could make no late impact, finishing sixth as the 3.20-1 favorite.

When asked during a Tuesday interview if a change in the saddle could be coming, Sackatoga Managing Partner Jack Knowlton told Finley: “I think that’s certainly on the table. “I don’t think any of us were pleased with his ride. I was in the paddock when [trainer] Barclay [Tagg] talked to Manny and gave him his instructions, how he wanted to see him ride him and where he wanted him to put the horse in the race. Unfortunately, that did not happen.”

Franco’s agent, Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero, also booked mounts for Velazquez for better than 25 years, but the two parted ways earlier this year. Cordero was not shocked at Thursday’s developments.

“It was not a surprise to me,” he told Finley. “I knew as soon as Manny got beat on him he was going to be removed. I am grateful that they gave us the opportunity to ride him. We won some big, important races on him that put us on the map. Maybe one day we’ll get another horse like him. He’s a good horse. Not too many people get to ride a horse like that.”

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