jack knowlton | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Everything Was Good’: Tiz The Law Breezes In Advance of Runhappy Travers On Aug. 8

Sackatoga Stable's Grade 1 Belmont Stakes champ Tiz the Law, bred in New York by Twin Creeks Farm, breezed five furlongs in 59.63 seconds Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Spring, N.Y., in preparation for the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers, a 1 1/4-mile test for sophomores, on August 8.

Tiz the Law visited the main track at 8:45 a.m. under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70s. The Constitution bay, working solo under exercise rider Heather Smullen, breezed through splits of 24.40, 35.60 and galloped out three-quarters in 1:12.84 over a fast main track.

Trainer Barclay Tagg, on track to oversee the breeze, said he liked what he saw.

“I thought the work was good. He did it just right. The time was good. Everything was good,” Tagg said.

Tiz the Law will breeze twice more ahead of the Runhappy Travers, which offers 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

“He came out nice and strong,” said Sackatoga Stables operations manager Jack Knowlton. “Obviously the new racetrack was no impediment for him, so it's just one more step. We've got three weeks from today. He'll have two more works and then we're ready to go. You can see how fit he is.”

A winner at first asking in August at Saratoga, Tiz the Law followed up with a four-length score in the Grade 1 Champagne in October at Belmont. He completed his juvenile campaign with a close third in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, contested on a sloppy strip at Churchill Downs.

Tiz the Law wintered at Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla., and opened his sophomore season at Gulfstream Park with a three-length score in the Grade 3 Holy Bull in February. He then dominated the nine-furlong Grade 1 Florida Derby by 4 1/4 lengths on March 28.

Last out, Tiz the Law captured the first leg of the revised Triple Crown when 3 ¾-lengths the best in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

Tagg and Sackatoga Stable traveled the Triple Crown road in 2003 with New York-bred in Funny Cide. The Distorted Humor chestnut prevailed by 1 3/4-lengths in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby under jockey Jose Santos. He followed up with a 9 3/4-length score in the Grade 1 Preakness, but finished third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes after setting the early pace in his Triple Crown bid.

Knowlton said he relishes the opportunity to run Tiz the Law in the Runhappy Travers, especially since Funny Cide was scratched from the 2003 Travers.

“There's nothing like the Derby, but obviously we would like to win the race that Funny Cide didn't have a chance to run in,” Knowlton said. “Hopefully this will be a stepping stone to success in Kentucky. We're on a nice roll. We won a Classic, we won two other Grade 1s, and we won three out of three this year, so four out of four going into the Derby would be great.”

Tiz the Law, who leads all contenders with 272 Derby qualifying points, will contest a unique Triple Crown scenario that will continue with the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, rescheduled from Saturday, May 2, to Saturday, September 5, as the second leg of the Classic series. The Grade 1 Preakness, originally slated for May 16, will close out the Triple Crown on October 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

The Runhappy Travers Day card is headlined by the “Mid-Summer Derby” for the country's most talented 3-year-olds and is one of three Grade 1s on the day, joining the $300,000 Ballerina for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going seven furlongs in a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.

The day will also see sophomore fillies compete in the prestigious Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test at seven furlongs, with the card bolstered by the Grade 3, $200,000 Troy, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for older males, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Waya , a 1 1/2-mile turf route for older fillies and mares.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course and the best way to bet every race of the 40-day summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

The post ‘Everything Was Good’: Tiz The Law Breezes In Advance of Runhappy Travers On Aug. 8 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Back With Another Chance’: Tiz The Law Arrives In Saratoga To Prep For Travers

Sackatoga Stables' Tiz the Law shipped from Belmont park up to Saratoga on Monday, reports The Daily Gazette, in order to prep for this year's edition of the Grade 1 Travers Stakes. The 3-year-old colt won the Belmont Stakes in his most recent outing, and is expected to run in the Aug. 8 Travers before the rescheduled Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.

“Like (trainer) Barclay (Tagg) said, he's always wanted to win the Travers, and obviously I've always wanted to win the Travers,” Sackatoga's Jack Knowlton told The Daily Gazette. “We were deeply disappointed that (Sackatoga and Tagg's 2003 Kentucky Derby winner) Funny Cide got sick and we weren't able to run it. Now we're back with another chance, and maybe we can do what we did with the Belmont.”

Tiz the Law gave Tagg and Sackatoga the victory in the Belmont Stakes they'd been denied with Funny Cide, 17 years after the “gutsy gelding” took the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Though the three-race series is out of order in this unusual 2020 season, Knowlton and Tagg are looking forward to their chance to bring another New York-bred to racing's center stage.

“He's a good horse,” Knowlton continued. “We'll find out how good, because there's going to be challenges.”

Tiz the Law Breezes Towards, Max Player Aiming For Runhappy Travers

Tiz the Law (Constitution) continued his preparations for the $1-million GI Runhappy Travers S. Wednesday morning, working five furlongs in a solid 1:01.10 over a Belmont main track labeled as fast. It was the New York-bred’s second breeze since winning the GI Belmont S. June 20. He went a maintenance half-mile in :50.06 July 1.

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

Tiz the Law is perfect in three starts this season, having won the GIII Holy Bull S. Feb. 1 ahead of a smooth success in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 28. He defeated Dr Post (Quality Road) by 3 3/4 lengths in the first leg of this year’s reconstituted Triple Crown last month.

“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, [jockey] Manny [Franco] 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.”

Trainer Linda Rice confirmed that GIII Withers S. hero and Belmont third placegetter Max Player (Honor Code) is also being prepared for the 10-furlong ‘Midsummer Derby’ at Saratoga, having also considered other options over the coming weeks.

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

The post Tiz the Law Breezes Towards, Max Player Aiming For Runhappy Travers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Belmont Winner Tiz The Law To Stand At Ashford Stud Upon Retirement

Last Saturday's impressive Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Tiz The Law will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud on his retirement, but will continue to race for owners Sackatoga Stable throughout his racing career.

“Tiz The Law is the outstanding colt of his generation so we are obviously delighted he'll be coming here,” said Coolmore America manager Dermot Ryan. “From day one when he broke his maiden at Saratoga we have been watching him closely and he has everything one looks for in a stallion prospect. We are grateful to Jack Knowlton and his partners in Sackatoga Stable for letting us be a part of such an exciting horse, and also to Barclay Tagg, Robin Smullen and their team who have done a tremendous job with him. He's a Grade 1-winning juvenile and is now a Classic winner. Combined with his near perfect race record, he's very good-looking and is a very well-bred individual.”

His sire Constitution was second only to American Pharoah on the freshman sire table last year and leads the way in 2020, while Tiz The Law's dam Tizfiz was the winner of seven races including the Grade 2 San Gorgonio Handicap carrying top weight of 118 pounds.

“Tiz The Law is such a pleasure to be around, he impresses me every day with how easy he does everything, nothing is out of reach for him,” said trainer Barclay Tagg. “I have been training horses for such a long time and I have never had a horse like him, he makes my life very easy. We are looking forward to running him in the Travers then on to the Derby and Preakness. He has achieved so much already and is a very exciting horse for the future, I wouldn't change him for the world.”

Jack Knowlton, operating manager of Sackatoga Stables stated “Sackatoga Stable is pleased that Tiz The Law will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud. It is an honor that he will become a part of the world's largest breeding operation of Thoroughbred racehorses. We are excited to see what Tiz The Law has in store on the track for the remainder of his 3-year-old year and beyond, and then look forward to his career as a stallion at Ashford.”

The post Belmont Winner Tiz The Law To Stand At Ashford Stud Upon Retirement appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post