Belmont Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

Connections Of Belmont Third Max Player ‘Leaning Towards’ Travers Rematch With Tiz The Law

George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player, who ran third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20, is being pointed towards the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers, trainer Linda Rice said.

Max Player, who finished only behind Dr Post and winner Tiz the Law in last month's first leg of the Triple Crown, registered his first breeze since the Belmont Stakes, going four furlongs in 49 seconds on Sunday over Belmont Park's dirt training track.

“He's doing very well. That was his first breeze since the Belmont and it was just a nice, comfortable breeze, and he's in good order,” Rice said.

Never off the board in four career starts, Max Player could next make his Saratoga debut by running in the “Mid-Summer Derby.” He made his first two starts at Parx, running second in his debut at one mile on November 12 before winning at the same distance at second asking on December 17.

In his sophomore debut, he bested an eight-horse field by 3 ¼ lengths in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Withers on February 1 at Aqueduct Racetrack. That was his previous start since the Belmont Stakes, which was shortened from its famed 1 ½-mile distance to a one-turn 1 1/8 miles to accommodate the revised schedule for 3-year-olds in training.

With the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby set for September 5 and serving as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown this year, Max Player can accumulate even more qualifying points, with the Travers offering a 100-40-20-10 scale to the top-four finishers.

Max Player has accumulated 40 qualifying points for the “Run for the Roses” and is 12th on the current leaderboard for a race that has traditionally taken as many as 20 entries.

Contested at 1 1/4 miles, the Travers would be the longest race Max Player has run, but Rice said she is optimistic the Honor Code colt could handle it.

“We're leaning towards running in the Travers,” Rice said. “We looked at some other options with the [Grade 1] Haskell [at Monmouth] or the [Grade 3] Peter Pan [July 16 at Saratoga], but we are going to point right to the Travers.”

Wicked Trick, who finished fourth in the Grade 2 True North on June 27 at Belmont, will be getting a freshening after three races to start his 5-year-old campaign. The Hat Trick gelding won his seasonal bow against allowance company on January 20 at Aqueduct before running fifth in the Stymie on March 7.

After stepping up to graded stakes company for the first time in 23 career starts in the True North, Rice said she decided to give the Kentucky bred who she co-owns with Stephen Cooper a respite.

“He's just been a little dull lately, so I just sent him to the farm to give him some time off,” Rice said.

Rice has saddled four winners during the Belmont spring/summer meet, which started June 3 and will conclude on Sunday, July 12. She will gear up for the Saratoga meet that runs from July 16 through September 7. Rice has enjoyed success at the Spa, highlighted by the 2009 meet in which she captured the training title.

“I think we were all very happy to just get back to racing in these unusual times,” Rice said. “It's given a lot of relief to the horsemen and the owners so that we can maintain these horses in our stables. Saratoga will be unusual this year as well for sure, but we're just all happy to be back to racing.”

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‘We’d Love To Complete The New York Circle’: Tiz The Law Continues Moving Forward Toward Travers

Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law resumed serious business on Wednesday morning, posting a five-furlong breeze over Belmont Park's main track for trainer Barclay Tagg.

Under the guidance of regular rider Manny Franco, the three-time Grade 1-winning son of second crop sire Constitution recorded his work in 1:01.10 over a main track rated fast. The move was a second work for Tiz the Law since being the first New York-bred in over a century to capture the Belmont Stakes. Last Wednesday, he went an easy half-mile in 50.06 seconds.

“He looked perfect,” Tagg said. “He's got a lot of energy. He wouldn't blow out a candle.”

Unbeaten in all three starts during his sophomore campaign, Tiz the Law began 2020 with wins in the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby, both at Gulfstream Park, en route to a victory in the Belmont Stakes, which was run as the first leg of the Triple Crown following a rescheduling of the national stakes calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiz the Law, bred in the Empire State by Twin Creeks Farm, began his career with a maiden triumph against fellow New York-breds at Saratoga Race Course before winning the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park. His only loss took place in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs, where he was third beaten three-quarters of a length over a sloppy main track.

Tiz the Law remains on target for the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers on August 8 at Saratoga Race. The colt currently tops the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 272 points and could add to those totals in the Runhappy Travers, which offers 100-40-20-10 to the top-four finishers.

“It's just a matter of keeping him happy and healthy for seven weeks between now and the Travers,” said Jack Knowlton – operations manager for owner Sackatoga Stable. “[Assistant trainer] Robin [Smullen] says nothing phases him. If you watch him around the stable, on the track, and during his races it all seems to be true. Fortunately, Manny has gotten to know what he has under him and has done a great job. Hopefully we can continue the roll that we're on.”

Knowlton has been down a similar road before when Funny Cide won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness finishing third in the Belmont Stakes but was scratched from that year's Travers.

Knowlton said a win in the Runhappy Travers would be a huge deal for the Sackatoga team.

“Once he won the Champagne in the fall, he was on everyone's radar screen as a top 3-year-old,” Knowlton said. “We had a small bump in the road when we went to Kentucky, but as soon as he won the Holy Bull in Florida, he was right back on top of everyone's list. We're just taking it one race at a time. It will be interesting. No one will have run a mile and a quarter before the Travers and it will be unusual that some horses will have run a mile and quarter before the Derby. This was a race we could have had Funny Cide in, but he got sick. We'd love to complete the New York circle.”

Tiz the Law is scheduled ship to Saratoga on Monday, July 13, where he will continue to train for the Runhappy Travers.

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Belmont Winner Tiz The Law ‘Getting A Little Bit Tough’ In Morning Workouts

In his first breeze since winning the Belmont Stakes on June 20, Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law worked four furlongs in 50.06 seconds.

According to the Daily Racing Form, jockey Manny Franco kept Tiz the Law steady through the first quarter mile in 26.71 seconds, then moved up to complete the second quarter in 23.18 seconds. In order to go slow early, trainer Barclay Tagg ponied the 3-year-old Constitution colt all the way to the five-eighths pole.

“That was (Tagg's) plan and that was great for me because he's getting a little bit tough,” Franco told the Daily Racing Form. “That made it easier for me.”

Up next, Tiz the Law is expected to take on the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 8, en route to the rescheduled Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.

Casse Hoping Got Stormy Brings ‘A Game’ To Just A Game

Gary Barber's Got Stormy will be running at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., for the second time this month when she competes in the seven-horse Grade 1, $250,000 Just a Game for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up on Saturday.

The 27th running of the Just a Game, contested at one mile on the Widener turf, is one of four graded stakes on the 11-race card. It will also feature three contenders from trainer Chad Brown, including 7-5 favorite Uni, 8-5 second-choice Newspaperofrecord, and 10-1 Regal Glory.

Got Stormy, trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, ran fourth in the Grade 3 Beaugay on June 3, bobbling at the start of the 1 1/16-mile turf route before finishing six lengths back to Rushing Fall, another Brown trainee.

In the Just a Game, Got Stormy drew post 2 with Luis Saez aboard and is listed at 5-1 on the morning line.

“We're just hoping for her to bounce back with her 'A' game. It's a small but mighty field,” Casse said. “There's some speed in there with Newspaperofrecord. My hope would be that we are sitting somewhere in mid-pack.”

All eight of Got Stormy's wins have come at one mile. With weather expected to be in the mid 80-degrees, Casse said he hopes the expected rain doesn't come until after the race's 6:08 p.m. Eastern post time.

“The turf should be fairly hard and the mile is definitely her cup of tea,” Casse said.

Got Stormy won four races in 2019, racking up wins in the Grade 1 Matriarch in December at Del Mar and the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap in August at Saratoga Race Course. As a 5-year-old, she ran second, by a neck, to River Boyne in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe on March 7 at Santa Anita.

Live Oak Plantation's Tap It to Win was the speed in last Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes before tiring and finishing fifth in the American Classic won by New York-bred Tiz the Law.

Running in the first leg of the Triple Crown was a big step up for the Tapit colt, who started his sophomore campaign with back-to-back wins in an optional claimer and against allowance company.

Casse saw Tap It to Win post a front-running five-length score on June 4 at Belmont, going 1 1/16 miles. Off a quick turnaround, the Florida homebred was put in the Belmont Stakes, contested this year at 1 1/8 miles instead of its famed 1 1/2-mile distance, under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez.

“He's good. We tried. Maybe 16 days [back] wasn't his thing. I don't think he brought his 'A' game,” Casse said. “All credit to Tiz the Law and Barclay [Tagg, winning trainer]. I was disappointed in our horse's effort. But I was happy for the winning connections. It was well deserved.”

With the Saratoga summer meet running from July 16 to September 7, Casse said he has options to run Tap It to Win back at the Spa. He also said he might scale back the distance with the Belmont marking the first time Tap It to Win ran longer than 1 1/16 miles.

“I don't think the distance was a factor. Probably he's a just a horse who can't come back so quickly off such a big effort,” Casse said.

The Grade 1, $300,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, contested at seven furlongs on Saratoga's Whitney Day on August 1, could be a possibility for his next spot.

“I think the positive is that we know we have a good horse,” Casse said. “I'm going to sit back and let him tell us when he's ready to go again. I don't know; I haven't thought about it too much yet. Going back to seven-eighths in the Allen Jerkens is something we may look at. We're going to let him chill for a little bit. He ran three hard races in not a long period of time, so we'll let him tell us when he's ready to go. We do know he loves Saratoga.”

Tap It to Win fell short in his bid to make Casse the first trainer to repeat as the Belmont Stakes winner since fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas captured three in a row from 1994-96. Casse won the carnations last year with Sir Winston, who followed that 2019 campaign by returning to Belmont's Big Sandy earlier this month. The Awesome Again colt, who started his 4-year-old campaign with a win against optional claimers in January at Aqueduct, ran second to Moretti in the Flat Out on June 11.

Contesting over a sloppy and sealed track, Sir Winston came from off the pace to run second in the nine-horse Flat Out.

“I was happy with him. He was up against it with no speed in the race and the weather,” Casse said.

Sir Winston breezed four furlongs in 50.78 seconds on Friday over Belmont's main track.

Casse said he is still pointing towards the Grade 2, $200,000 Suburban at 1 ¼ miles on Belmont's packed July 4 card that will be headlined by the Grade 1, $500,000 Runhappy Met Mile.

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