Tag: Constitution

No Need for an Asterisk, Tiz is Super

Tiz the Law (Constitution) won the GI Belmont S. Saturday, dominating nine rivals who were outclassed by the best 3-year-old colt in North America. Let the debate begin.

What, exactly, is Tiz the Law’s place in racing history and should he win the Triple Crown, does he belong in the same sentence as Secretariat, Citation, Seattle Slew and the other 10 immortals? Some will say no. Their point is that he won the first third of a Triple Crown that is unlike anything anyone has ever seen, starting with a Belmont run at a mile and an eighth. The argument is that this is so unlike the traditional Triple Crown it really isn’t a Triple Crown. That running the three races over 15 weeks rather than five makes it easier to win.

While some, but not all, of those points are valid, they miss a central point–this is a very good horse and it’s unfair to hold something against him over which nobody had any control. No asterisk is necessary.

What is the Triple Crown? It is a three-race series that consists of the GI Kentucky Derby, the GI Preakness and the Belmont. Nowhere does it say that the Triple Crown has to be, in order, the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont, with five weeks covering the start of the series to the end. In fact, that hasn’t always been the case. Nowhere does it say that the Belmont has to be at a mile and a half. Gallant Fox, the 1930 Triple Crown winner, won in a year when the Preakness was first and then the Derby.

Whether or not this Triple Crown is easier than a normal one is up for debate. Winning three Grade I races over a 15-week span is still a daunting task. Daunting but different.

The modern horse has a hard time putting together three big efforts within five weeks, but, for a Derby winner, the five weeks can actually be an advantage. The Preakness has become easily the least difficult race to win in the series. Year in and year out, it normally includes the Derby winner, two or three horses that didn’t run well in the Derby and a few new faces, none of them that good. That’s why so many horses over the last couple of decades have won the first two legs.

This is a completely different task. Tiz the Law will resurface in a Kentucky Derby that will, as is always the case, be the hardest of the Triple Crown races to win. At least one very serious horse in GI Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A.P. (Honor Code) will be there waiting for him. So will Santa Anita Derby runner-up Authentic (Into Mischief). There will also be, no doubt, some new faces that have yet to be tested but will be ready for prime time come Sept. 5. We may have even seen one on the Belmont card in Happy Saver (Super Saver). A first-time starter, he romped for Todd Pletcher in the fifth race and looked more than worthy of tackling stakes competition.
The 2020 Triple Crown is different. Different doesn’t mean easier. Tiz the Law will have to hold his form over a 15-week period and not get injured, which is far from easy. He will have to face a slew of new challengers. He will have to prove that he can handle the track at Churchill Downs, where he suffered his only career defeat, in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. last year.

If the Belmont were won by a 10-1 shot, probably no one would be thinking about the Triple Crown. But there are no doubts that Tiz the Law is good enough to pull this off. Time will tell if he is special, but, for now, we know that he is a very, very good horse who sits atop a division that has been decimated by injuries.

Who can beat him? You can’t possibly come up with a long list, but one horse who might belong in that group is the filly, Gamine (Into Mischief). As good as Tiz the Law was Saturday, he was not the most impressive performer on the card. Her GI Acorn was simply one of the best performances of modern times. She was that good.
She won by 18 3/4 lengths and obliterated the stakes record. As great as she ran, I don’t see any reason why trainer Bob Baffert and owner Michael Petersen wouldn’t run her next in a Kentucky Derby prep and find out if their spectacular filly belongs in the Kentucky Derby or not.

She might be able to beat Tiz the Law and so might Honor A.P. Then again, it might be that the New York-bred star is that much better than every other 3-year-old on the planet. That could mean a 14th Triple Crown winner, a deserving Triple Crown winner.

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Tiz the Law is ‘A Number One’ in the Belmont

Native New Yorker TIZ THE LAW (c, 3, Constitution–Tizfiz, by Tiznow) was a fitting winner in Saturday’s unconventional renewal of the GI Belmont S., which was run as the first leg of the Triple Crown and reduced to 1 1/8 miles. Heavily favored at 4-5, Tiz the Law stalked from a two-wide third as Tap It To Win (Tapit) seized command with Fore Left (Twirling Candy) pressing from second through a :23.11 opening quarter and :46.16 half-mile. Drawing alongside the pacesetter turning for home, the native New Yorker powered clear in the lane to register a decisive victory in 1:46.5. Dr. Post (Quality Road) got up for second and Max Player (Honor Code) rallied from well back to complete the trifecta. Opening his account with a pair of wins, includng the GI Champagne S., Tiz the Law was third in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. in November. Returning to winning ways in the GIII Holy Bull S. Feb. 1, he followed suit with a win in  the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 28. Lifetime Record: 6-5-0-1.

O-Sackatoga Stable; B-Twin Creeks Farm (NY); T-Barclay Tagg

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Tiz The Law Delivers Redemption For New York Connections In 152nd Belmont Stakes

A deluge of rain at Belmont Park derailed the Triple Crown dreams of the gutsy gelding, Funny Cide, in 2003, but 17 years later Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg finally captured the elusive Belmont Stakes with a decisive four-length victory by Tiz the Law. Their triumph in the 152nd running came in front of a nearly-empty grandstand and over a shortened distance of nine furlongs, punctuating an unprecedented year in which the Belmont has been run as the first of the three-race classic series.

The 2020 Belmont Stakes awards 150 Kentucky Derby points to the winner, virtually ensuring Tiz the Law a spot in the starting gate for the Run for the Roses, rescheduled for Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs.

A New York-bred son of Constitution, Tiz the Law completed the one-turn, 1 1/8-mile contest in 1:46.53 over Belmont's fast main track, becoming the first New York bred to win the Belmont in over 100 years. The 4-5 post time favorite gave New York-based jockey Manny Franco his first win in the Triple Crown series.

Unbridled Stakes winner Dr Post finished second, about four lengths behind the winner, while Withers winner Max Player closed from near the rear of the field to check in third. Pneumatic, also up close early, finished fourth.

Tagg had been preparing Tiz the Law for the Belmont since the colt won the G1 Florida Derby in late March, making the goal official as soon as the new Triple Crown dates were announced. The trainer worked his charge regularly at Palm Meadows in South Florida through the end of May, shipping him up to New York in early June and recording two local breezes over the Belmont main track.

When the gates opened for the first major sporting event since the coronavirus shutdowns, Tiz the Law was right up with the frontrunners but sensibly allowed Franco to ease him back into third position for the long run up the backstretch. As expected from his inside post position, the speedy Tap It To Win went straight to the front with a one-length advantage over Fore Left. Franco kept Tiz the Law in the clear three-wide, biding his time and watching the race unfold.

Tap It To Win set fractions of :23.11, :46.16, and 1:09.94, the Mark Casse-trained allowance winner looking comfortable under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez. However, when Franco sent Tiz the Law after the leader with a three-wide bid in the far turn, Tap It To Win faltered.

Tiz the Law galloped by that rival and easily cleared the rest of the field, leaving the hard-charging Dr Post in his wake as he stretched toward the wire. Franco took a peek under his arm near the eighth pole to make sure no one was coming, then hand-rode his charge through the finish to win decisively by about four lengths.

Dr Post had been mid-pack early in the race, and moved into third around the far turn but was no match for Tiz the Law in the lane. Max Player, second-last of the 10-horse field up the backstretch, closed well to finish third, just a half-length behind Dr Post. Pneumatic threatened briefly around the far turn, but couldn't keep pace when the others accelerated and had to settle for fourth.

The remaining order of finish was: Tap It To Win, Sole Volante, Modernist, Farmington Road, Fore Left, and Jungle Runner.

Bred in New York by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law is out of the Grade 2-winning Tiznow mare Tizfiz. Her 2014 daughter by Tapit, Awestruck, was placed in multiple stakes races and ran out earnings of over $350,000, so the result of the mating to freshman stallion Constitution, by Tapit, drew some attention at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Yearling sale.

Jack Knowlton, Sackatoga principle, secured the colt with a final bid of $110,000, and he rewarded the stable's faith with a debut victory and a second-out win in the G1 Champagne. Tagg and Knowlton opted to skip the Breeders' Cup with Tiz the Law, and brought him to Churchill Downs for the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club in late November only to see him finish third after being blocked in for part of the run around the turn.

Rested until February, Tiz the Law returned with a bang when he won the G3 Holy Bull by an easy three lengths over eventual Fountain of Youth winner Ete Indien. A rematch in the Florida Derby saw Tiz the Law successful once again, winning by 4 1/4 lengths this time.

Overall, the colt has won five of his six starts to earn just shy of $1.5 million.

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Sunday’s Racing Insights

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2nd-BEL, $64K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:50 p.m.

Wesley Ward has a pair of Keeneland-based juveniles entered in this spot. Breeze Easy’s Roderick (Into Mischief) was a $550,000 KEESEP yearling and is a full-brother to two-turn GSW One Liner. He hails from the extended female family of highest-level winners Albertus Maximus, Daredevil and King Charlemagne. Roderick’s stablemate Copley (Air Force Blue) is from a Ned Evans family that includes the likes of Grade I winners Swagger Jack and Malibu Prayer. Winfromwithin (Into Mischief), just a $100,000 September yearling, was produced by a half-sister to turf MGSW and MGISP Shakis (Ire) (Machiavellian). Zebra Cake (Runhappy), yet another September buy ($200,000), is out of a half to GSW Mo Tom (Uncle Mo) and SW and MGISP juvenile Beautician (Dehere). Further down the page is talented GII Black-Eyed Susan S. winner Red Ruby (Tiznow). Peter Vegso homebred Berhanu (The Factor) is out of a debut and stakes-winning full-sister to GSW juvneile Aegean (Northern Afleet). TJCIS PPs

 

3rd-SA, $50K, Msw, 2yo, 4 1/2f, 4:30 p.m.

Doug O’Neill-trained Ambivalent (Constitution) was a $95,000 KEESEP yearling turned $550,000 OBS March juvenile–the fourth-highest price paid at that auction–off a powerful :20 4/5 breeze. The Reddam Racing colorbearer is a grandson of MGSW turfer Roshani (Fantastic Light). TJCIS PPs

 

11th-SA, $50K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 8:33 p.m.

Bob Baffert will saddle a pair of well-bred fillies here. Newcomer Provocation (Into Mischief), a $350,000 OBS April pick-up last year (:20 3/5), is out of GISW Meadow Breeze (Meadowlake), making her a half to ‘TDN Rising Star‘ and turf GSW Magic Star (Scat Daddy) and GISP juvenile Royal Copy (Bodemeister). Meadow Breeze is half to GISW Overanalyze (Dixie Union), GISP Majesto (Tiznow) and GSP Mighty Monsoon (Forestry). Grand Farm Family’s Himiko (American Pharoah), a $1-million Fasig-Tipton November weanling, was eighth with some trouble when debuting in a turf sprint here May 16. She’s a half to the talented GISW and fellow Baffert pupil Bodemeister (Empire Maker). GSW and GISP dam Untouched Talent (Storm Cat), a $5,000,000 Fasig-Tipton November seller in 2012, is also responsible for MGISP Fascinating (Smart Strike). Himiko shares a second dam in MGSW Parade Queen (A.P. Indy) with last week’s GI Ogden Phipps S. heroine She’s a Julie (Elusive Quality).TJCIS PPs

 

 

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