Tiz The Law Posts ‘Nice, Easy’ First Breeze Since Finishing Second In Kentucky Derby

Sackatoga Stable's four-time Grade 1 winner Tiz the Law was back to work on Friday morning to record his first breeze since finishing second in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on September 5 at Churchill Downs with a half-mile work over a fast main track at Belmont Park.

Under mostly sunny skies, the 3-year-old son of Constitution covered four furlongs in 50.07 seconds with regular exercise rider Heather Smullen aboard.

“It was a nice, easy work,” trainer Barclay Tagg said. “I wasn't looking for much. I just wanted him to go out there and stretch his legs. He hadn't done anything in three weeks.”

Prior to his last-out second in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished 1 1/4-lengths back to Authentic, Tiz the Law had won his prior four starts this season in dominant fashion taking the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby, both at Gulfstream Park, before a sensational 3 ¾-length victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20 ahead of a 5 ½-length romp in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers on August 8 at Saratoga.

During his 2-year-old season, Tiz the Law won the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park in his second start after besting fellow New York-breds in his career debut at Saratoga.

The connections of Tiz the Law opted to bypass the Grade 1 Preakness on October 3 at Pimlico, and instead will train up to the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on November 7 at Keeneland, where he will face older horses for the first time. He will attempt to become the 13th 3-year-old to score a victory in the Classic.

Bred in the Empire State by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law is out of the graded stakes winning Tiznow mare Tizfiz and was purchased for $110,000 from the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Yearling Sale of New York-breds.

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‘We Can Be Competitive’: Max Player Heading To Preakness Stakes

Max Player is headed to the Preakness Stakes (G1), which as it currently stands will stamp him as the only horse to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown — plus Saratoga's Travers Stakes (G1).

Owned by George Hall and the SportBLX Thoroughbreds company he co-founded, Max Player finished third in the Belmont Stakes (G1), third in the Travers and most recently fifth in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (G1). Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, winner of the 2007 Preakness with Curlin and the 2009 edition with the filly Rachel Alexandra, ran Max Player for the first time in the Derby, with New York-based Linda Rice previously training the Honor Code colt.

Hall won the 2011 Belmont Stakes with 24-1 shot Ruler On Ice. Max Player was his best finish out of four starters in the Kentucky Derby and his first to run in the Churchill Downs classic since Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Pants On Fire came in ninth in 2011.

“I'm very excited because I haven't been in the Preakness yet,” Hall said by phone. “Steve and I stay in close contact. He shares a lot of information with me, and we discuss things. So it's been great. We both agreed we'd take a lot of things into consideration before there was a decision.

“First, and most importantly, how was the horse feeling and was the horse up for it? Because we don't want to do anything that is not in the interest of the horse. After the Kentucky Derby, he looked like he wanted to keep running. Steve watched him closely, and he was in great shape. He's galloped well. He's breezed well. We felt the horse was at the peak of his game and is ready to run.

“The next thing is, are we going to be competitive? I really feel like we will be competitive. If you look at the Belmont Stakes, where we were third, he didn't have such a great trip. We got really caught behind a lot of horses and had to move around a lot and still wound up being third because he came on so strong at the end. In the Travers, he again came on strong to be third. It's no shame to lose to Tiz the Law, as everybody knows. We feel like he's a really good horse.

“When we started to look at the Preakness, I think the view is that he's in perfectly good health. He's in good shape, and he needs to develop. Reviewing the Kentucky Derby, he really came out of the gate slow (from post 1) and was far behind in the first jump. If we can get a little better trip out of the gate, maybe get a better post position and not fall so far behind and give him so much work to do at the end, we think that we can be competitive.”

Paco Lopez, known for getting horses into a race, has the Preakness mount on Max Player, Hall said. “That's what Paco is known for. Obviously, we want to stay in the race, but we have to be careful because he is going to be a closer, no matter what. I'm sure Steve will give Paco the correct instructions.”

Max Player won Aqueduct's 1 1/8-mile Withers Stakes (G3) on Feb. 1 after winning a maiden race at Parx on his second attempt. He did not run again until the June 20 Belmont, which this year also was 1 1/8 miles instead of the traditional 1 1/2-miles because of the COVID-forced changes to the 2020 Triple Crown.

“He had a long layoff before the Belmont, but then he's had a robust campaign since,” Hall said. “What's most important to us is that he stays healthy and has a good 4-year-old and hopefully 5-year-old career. We didn't really think there was negative toward running in the Preakness that would affect his long-term prospects as a 4-year-old. We're pretty excited about what he's going to do be doing in the future, too.”

Hall bred Max Player through his K & G Stables, named for his children Katherine and George, with the colt raised on his Annestes Farm in Versailles, Ky. Hall owns 86 percent of Max Player, with SportBLX Thoroughbreds owning the other 14 percent. Co-founded by Hall with Joe De Perio, SportBLX Thoroughbreds allows people to buy micro-shares in racehorses, similar in basic premise to Myracehorse, a minority owner in Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness favorite Authentic.

More micro-shares in Max Player, which will come out of his majority interest, likely will be available for purchase next week, Hall said.

Asmussen also is running Monmouth Park's Pegasus winner Pneumatic in the Preakness, with Joe Bravo to ride.

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Belmont Runner-up Dr Post Headlines Jim Dandy

Dr Post (Quality Road), a very respectable second behind Tiz the Law (Constitution) in the shortened GI Belmont S. June 20, will be the one to beat in Saturday’s GII Jim Dandy S. at Saratoga after bypassing the GI Kentucky Derby.

He followed his tenacious win while making his two-turn bow in Gulfstream’s Unbridled S. Apr. 25 by finishing 3 3/4 lengths within the imposing Derby favorite in Elmont, then reported home third after falling a bit too far behind early in the GI TVG.com Haskell S. at Monmouth last time July 18.

“He’s been training well,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He’s a high-quality colt and trains accordingly. I’m very happy with him. He showed his quality in the Belmont when he ran as close to Tiz the Law as anyone else has. He kind of had a less-than-ideal trip in the Haskell, but hopefully he’s ready to move forward here.”

Pletcher’s other entrant, the lightly raced and rail-drawn Happy Saver (Super Saver), made it a perfect two-for-two with a ‘TDN Rising Star’ performance over track and trip in a first-level allowance July 26. He is also entered in the $100,000 Federico Tesio S. at Laurel Monday, Sept. 7.

“Our first preference is the Tesio, assuming that everything goes according to plan,” Pletcher said. “We felt like the Tesio could potentially be a good segway toward the Preakness if he continues to develop.”

Fellow ‘Rising Star’ Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper), favored in all four of his previous career starts, including a third-place finish from the clouds in the local GIII Peter Pan S. July 16, adds blinkers for the first time for trainer Mike Stidham.

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Tiz The Law ‘A Different Horse’ This Year, Return To Churchill Won’t Be A Problem

The only time likely Grade 1 Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law has not earned a trip to the winner's circle in seven career starts came at Churchill Downs when he capped his juvenile year with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club last November.

So much has changed since then for the New York-bred son of Constitution, including four straight graded stakes wins to start his sophomore campaign. After capturing the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, Tiz the Law has been making history since, becoming the first state-bred in more than a century to win the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes by 3 ¾ lengths on June 20 and followed by throttling the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers field by 5 ½ lengths on August 8 at Saratoga.

Those efforts have primed Tiz the Law, bred in the Empire State by Twin Creeks Farm, for a shot at history as he continues on the Triple Crown trail. The next challenge is a return engagement at Churchill, where he will be the likely heavy favorite in the 146th running of the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on September 5.

Jockey Manny Franco, who expertly piloted the Barclay Tagg-trained Tiz the Law to four Grade 1 wins, including the Champagne in October at Belmont Park, said his charge has matured since his last appearance in the Bluegrass State.

“He's a different horse now. He's very mature and he's improving race-by-race and I'm really happy with the way he's doing it,” Franco said. “His mind is growing and he's doing everything the right way. He's ready for whatever happens.”

Traditionally the opening leg of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby is now the middle jewel, with the Belmont Stakes serving as the opener to accommodate the revised training schedule for 3-year-olds due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Though the circumstances are different with the race being in September instead of May, the “Run for the Roses” will maintain its signature full field, with up to 20 entrants still expected. Though Tiz the Law remains the unanimous leader in the NTRA top 3-year-old poll [and fifth in the top overall thoroughbred poll overall], Franco said the Derby will see the rest of the field looking to take down the favorite.

“If we get a good position, it's going to be the same,” Franco said. “We just need a good break and put him where he's comfortable, and he'll have a great race.”

In the Runhappy Travers, Franco was able to gear down Tiz the Law in deep stretch, but said he likely won't have that luxury a week from now.

“The Derby won't be an easy race, so we have to be prepared for everything that day and I think on that day, I'm going to have to make him run and see what he has in the tank,” Franco said. “He gave me great confidence after the last race because he handled the mile and a quarter, and the way he won, it gave me more confidence.”

The opportunity to ride Tiz the Law for owner Sackatoga Stable has been a continuation of a flourishing career for Franco. Still just 25 years old, Franco has come into his own as a jockey, winning the last two New York Racing Association year-end riding titles on the highly competitive circuit. Last November, he won his first career Breeders' Cup race, guiding Sharing to victory in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and won his first American Classic in this year's Belmont.

A win in the Kentucky Derby would set up a potential history making spot in the Grade 1 Preakness on October 3, where Tiz the Law could attempt to become just the 14th Triple Crown winner in history.

“This is a horse that any rider needs; we all need a shot on this kind of horse,” Franco said. “I'm really enjoying the moment to have this opportunity. I'm trying to do the best I can. He does things the other horses can't. I put him wherever I want and he's going to be there for me. Some horses, that's not [the case]. He has a lot of ability. He's very easy to ride. He rates. He does whatever I ask.”

Franco, who started riding in the United States in 2013, has won seven of his 11 career Grade 1 victories occur since 2019. His agent is Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr., who won a pair of Kentucky Derbies with Bold Forbes in 1976 and Spend a Buck in 1985.

“Angel is a Hall of Fame rider and I'm just happy to have him on my side because he's been in this position before and he always talks to me about how to handle this time,” Franco said. “I'm just blessed to have him in my corner. I just listen to him and try to put it in practice.”

Franco entered Friday with 1,385 career wins in 9,710 starts.

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