Randy Gullatt | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bloodlines Presented By Diamond B Farm’s Rowayton: Patience Helped Largent Grow Into His Pedigree

In winning the Grade 2 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Largent became the second stakes winner for his dam and the 34th graded stakes winner by leading sire Into Mischief (by Harlan's Holiday). Largent had already won restricted stakes, and the Ft. Lauderdale was his step up into the major leagues.

The hefty bay gelding took the rise of competition in stride.

Winning for the sixth time in nine starts, Largent was second in the other three races and now has earnings of $314,470. He was a growthy colt who was unraced at two, then made a pair of starts at three, winning his debut, then finishing second. Off for eight months, Largent returned to win an allowance at Gulfstream and has continued to progress through 2020.

A significant part of the reason for his improvement is that during last year's layoff, Largent was also gelded. Co-owner Randy Gullatt of Twin Creeks Racing said that “Largent was a handful as an early 3-year-old. He's a strong horse who was a handful in the paddock, was a handful in the morning, and his behavior got to the point of making us ask what sort of racehorse we were hoping he could be. We decided the best thing was to allow him to be the best racehorse possible, and to do that, he needed to be a gelding. He's a completely different horse now, laid-back and quiet, a push-button performer.”

Bred in Virginia by Lazy Lane Farms, Largent is out of the Unbridled mare Life in Seattle, who won two of her four starts. After finishing fourth in her stakes debut, Life in Seattle retired to stud, presumably due to a physical issue.

As a broodmare, Life in Seattle produced the stakes winner Kona Blend (Dixieland Band) as her first foal, and the now-22-year-old mare's last reported foal is the 4-year-old Largent, who is her second stakes winner and first graded stakes winner.

Gullatt noted that “Largent is a really good doer who carries his weight well, and he has been very sound” in training with Todd Pletcher. The Ft. Lauderdale was the fifth victory in seven starts this year for Largent, and he has made significant strides this year toward becoming the quality racehorse that the owners, Twin Creeks Racing and Eclipse Thoroughbreds, envisioned when they purchased him.

Twin Creeks and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners paid $460,000 for Largent at the 2017 Keeneland September sale, the sixth-highest price of the year for a yearling by Into Mischief. He was consigned by Warrendale Sales, agent.

Gullatt recalled, “I thought he was the best two-turn Into Mischief at the sale that year;” most buyers think of speed when they approach a yearling by Into Mischief, but Gullatt was coming from another angle.

“I was thinking of the Unbridled side of his pedigree,” Gullatt said, “and looking at Largent as a classic prospect over dirt. He's trained well over dirt, but he's been pulling us toward the turf.” The results of the Ft. Lauderdale indicate there could be further improvement in that regard, as well.

Winner of the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic, Unbridled (Fappiano) was out of a mare by the French-bred classic influence Le Fabuleux, and Unbridled bred both speed and classic quality. He sired the winners of all the Triple Crown races, as well as the Travers and other major races at 10 furlongs and up.

Furthermore, the second dam of Largent is Life at the Top, one of the very best daughters of Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Life at the Top twice won at the Grade 1 level (Mother Goose and Ladies Handicap), and she produced Grade 3 winner Elizabeth Bay (Mr. Prospector). The third dam is See You at the Top, by Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Riva Ridge (First Landing), and the fourth dam is Comely Nell (Commodore M.), who produced Kentucky Derby winner Bold Forbes (Irish Castle) and his winning full sister Priceless Fame, who became the dam the top English juvenile Dunbeath (Grey Dawn), the unbeaten Grade 1 winner Saratoga Six (Alydar), and his full sister Milliardaire, who became the dam of four-time Grade 1 winner Lakeway (Seattle Slew).

This is a high-class classic family, and “we've been patient with him because we're very confident in him and the ability that we saw at the sale,” Gullatt said. “At the time (of sale) Into Mischief was forcing us into buying one by him.”

Looks like they got a good one.

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Angel Oak, Half-Sister To Tiz The Law, Inching Toward Career Debut

Randy Gullatt of Twin Creeks Farm, breeder of New York-bred four-time Grade 1-winner Tiz the Law, said he is looking forward to campaigning the popular colt's 2-year-old half-sister Angel Oak with trainer Todd Pletcher for their Twin Creeks Racing division.

While Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law dazzled with dominant efforts in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga over the summer for conditioner Barclay Tagg, Angel Oak has trained alongside Pletcher's Belmont Park-based contingent since the beginning of October after arriving from the WinStar Farm Training Center.

Angel Oak, a gray or roan daughter of Mission Impazible out of the graded stakes-winning Tiznow mare Tizfiz, logged a bullet half-mile breeze from the gate over the Belmont training track in 48.05 seconds on Monday, the fastest of 42 recorded works at the distance.

“She's got a little bit of a ways to go, but she had a nice gate work just the other day, so she's been making some progress,” Pletcher said. “She's always been a nice training filly, pretty forward and very professional. She looks like she's got some talent.”

Pletcher said Angel Oak will likely not be ready to race for another month.

“She will probably be ready at the end of the next condition book, I would expect,” Pletcher said.

The current Aqueduct condition book runs through November 29.

Gullatt spoke high volumes of Angel Oak and said she shares some of the same positive characteristics as her accomplished half-brother.

“We always have liked her,” said Gullatt who manages Twin Creeks Racing with director Steve Davison. “She has a very similar personality to her mother. She's just very classy and very easy to train, which are some of the same things the brother has. So far, we like what we see so we're expecting good things out of her.”

Foaled in New York, Tiz the Law spent his first 90 days in the Empire State before shipping to Gullatt's care at Twin Creeks Farm in Versailles, Kentucky where he was raised through his yearling year. Tiz the Law was purchased for $110,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred Yearling Sale.

Gullatt said both Tiz the Law and Angel Oak were classy and manageable as young horses.

“They were very classy and easy to work with,” Gullatt said. “That trait is strong with what we've seen out of that mare as well as Mission Impazible. It's just something that we try to find. Classiness, desire and being easy to manage are all good characteristics and she has them all.”

While Tiz the Law, by Constitution, has thrived at a route of ground, Gullatt said he believes Angel Oak may be better running at shorter distances due to her natural speed that she has displayed in morning training.

“If I had to guess, I would say she's probably more of a sprinter, middle distance horse but we haven't seen anything to say she couldn't go further,” Gullatt said. “She does have some quickness and she could use that to her advantage going shorter distances. It's hard to gauge a horse before it has started.”

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‘The Pinnacle Of What We Hope For’: Tiz The Law A ‘Star Pupil’ On And Off The Track

Belmont Stakes hero Tiz the Law, born at Sequel Stallions in Hudson, N.Y., and raised in Versailles, Ky., by breeder Twin Creeks Farm, is the even-money morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1, $1-million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

The two outfits enjoy a strong relationship, with Sequel Stallions serving as home to the Twin Creeks Racing Stables' campaigned stallions Mission Impazible and Destin.

Becky Thomas, owner of Sequel Stallions, said Tiz the Law, a son of Constitution, displayed intelligence and athletic promise from his very first steps.

“We just showed him what we wanted him to do and he listened,” said Thomas. “We try very hard as a farm to be able to breed and raise a good horse and Tiz the Law is the pinnacle of what we hope for.”

Randy Gullatt, who manages Twin Creeks Farm for director Steve Davison, has been associated with Tiz the Law since the colt and his Grade 2-winning dam Tizfiz shipped to Kentucky just 90 days after being foaled.

Tiz the Law excelled at the 230-acre farm before shipping back up to New York for the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred Yearling Sale, and Gullatt said that not much has changed in terms of the horse's demeanor.

“He was very similar to what he is now,” Gullatt said. “Just very easy to manage, very happy, very intelligent and very pleasant to be around.”

Thomas said Tiz the Law exuded class ahead of the sale, where he was purchased for $110,000 by Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stables.

“I have found that horses who are smart may go to a place with new surroundings, look around and just process their new environment, but those kinds of horses are the ones that make good racehorses,” said Thomas. “You can go from one place to the next, ship them and move them because they're smart. They want to please you, they stay in their tub, they do the right thing, and they show well at the sale. Tiz the Law was a class act and a star pupil all the way through.

“I wish we could have all babies and yearlings like Tiz the Law,” Thomas added. “They're the kind that the veterinarian doesn't know because nothing is wrong with them. Your help goes to the sale and lead them out because they aren't problematic. He's one of those horses that are always wanting to please, did everything right, and are well-balanced.”

Tiz the Law was a winner at first asking at Saratoga for trainer Barclay Tagg on Aug. 8, 2019, exactly one year removed from Saturday's Travers.

The talented bay has since flourished, winning three Grade 1 races including last year's Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, the Florida Derby in March at Gulfstream Park and most recently, the Belmont Stakes, where on June 20 he became the first New York-bred in 138 years to win the American classic.

Gullatt and Thomas have both identified Tiz the Law's athleticism as his most outstanding attribute.

“I think 'athletic' would be the word I use more commonly than others,” Thomas said. “He's not a big, stretchy horse, he's a medium-sized horse. Tiz the Law, even though he wasn't a big overpowering horse, he had really good length in his back and those horses cover a lot of ground and they have a lot of room to reach up under them when they're moving. In his case, how he runs is how he walked.”

“He was a very athletic horse,” Gullatt concurred. “He had a very good hind leg on him. I think his mind was just so good. He was very easy to please and loved his job. He wasn't an overly big horse, but it was all his athleticism and his mind that were his biggest strengths.”

In a game of ups and downs, Thomas said she takes a strong sense of pride in being associated with the development of a horse of Tiz the Law's caliber.

“We sure kiss a lot of frogs before we get to that prince,” Thomas said. “We work really hard to produce a product that succeeds in the sales ring and on the racetrack. It's important to me to be associated with these types of horses and types of mares. It's everything we work for.”

Gullatt won 89 races as a trainer before switching careers, and he praised Tagg for being able to keep Tiz the Law in top form throughout the year.

“What's amazing to me is that it's very difficult to do well for as long as Barclay has had this horse do well and just stay at that peak level,” Gullatt said. “So, I think it just goes to show the strength of the horse and how well he's fit Barclay's program. It's a match made in heaven.”

Fans of Tiz the Law can look forward to seeing his Twin Creeks Racing-owned 2-year-old half-sister Angel Oak, by Mission Impazible, make her debut this fall for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“She was up at Belmont and was off one day, so we decided to back off and give her a little break,” said Gullatt. “She's currently at WinStar but she's training every day and we hope to have her ready in the fall. There's a New York-sired stakes race in December that we have circled that I would love to make.”

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Bloodlines: Tiz The Law Puts Sire Constitution At The Head Of His Class

Tiz the Law's victory in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20 made him the first grandson of multiple leading sire Tapit to win a classic, and the colt's success cemented his sire, Constitution, in a special place as the sire of the first classic winner from the freshman stallion crop of 2019.

Those horses include Horse of the Year American Pharoah (by Pioneerof the Nile), who was the leading freshman sire of 2019 over Constitution, with the Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice (Curlin) and the speedy Liam's Map (Unbridled's Song) and Tapiture (Tapit) filling the first five spots.

In addition to getting multiple graded stakes winners last year, Constitution was represented by Grade 1 winner Tiz the Law, who won the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, and the sire's stock has shown considerable improvement through the early months of 2020, even with the limited racing available to them.

Constitution has three stakes winners this season and six stakes-placed, and the overall success of his racers has put him in first place among the second-crop sires of 2020 with earnings of $2.4 million, ahead of Honor Code (A.P. Indy) and American Pharoah in virtually the same slot with progeny earnings of $1.269 million and $1.262 million. Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist sits fourth with $1.2 million and fifth-place Khozan (Distorted Humor) fifth at slightly less than $1.2 million.

Tiz the Law leads all racers by Constitution with $1,133,300 in earnings this season.

The blaze-faced bay colt was bred in New York by Twin Creeks Farm and sold for $110,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton sale of select New York-bred yearlings at Saratoga. Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable was the buyer.

Six years earlier, Twin Creeks had bought the Kentucky-bred Constitution from WinStar Farm for $400,000 at the 2012 Saratoga select yearling sale conducted by Fasig-Tipton. WinStar retained a portion of the colt, who won the G1 Florida Derby and Donn Handicap, then retired to stand at stud on WinStar Farm outside Versailles, Ky.

“Constitution was a star yearling; in every way, he was so complete a package as potential racehorse that we wanted him badly enough to pay the price,” said Twin Creeks' Randy Gullatt. “At Saratoga, he had the presence and the pedigree to be a horse that you stretched for. He was just wonderful and then showed it on the racetrack.”

As a buyer Gullatt said, “I'm attracted to the well-muscled, good-sized, lengthy yearlings who are not overly heavy and who aren't soft in the pastern. I'm essentially looking for two-turn speed horses. American racing is geared around the 3-year-old prep season, and if you have a horse who's good at the end of his 2-year-old season, then he's likely to be able to progress and improve at three to challenge for the classics through the early-season preps.”

That's what Constitution did, and although he missed the classics himself, the scopy bay son of classic sire Tapit has marked out some Triple Crown territory for himself with Tiz the Law.

In comparing the sire and the son, Gullatt said, “Constitution was a very different horse early on from Tiz the Law. Constitution was a big, grand-looking yearling. In contrast, Tiz the Law was a little smaller. He was an average-sized yearling and stands 15.3 3/4 [hands], I was told over the weekend. He was a really smart young horse who never had a bad day, was very willing to learn, very easy to work with, possessed a great mind and attitude.

“However, Tiz the Law wasn't the typical star yearling that buyers spend a ton of money on at the sale. That's what a lot of the Constitutions were like at the sales; as a result, they sold well but not outside of the norm of expectations.”

The Belmont Stakes winner himself sold for $110,000, which ranked him 15th among the 82 sales yearlings by Constitution, and his price compared quite favorably to the sire's yearling average of $68,152 in 2018.

Those numbers will be adjusting noticeably in 2020.

From a first-season stud fee of $25,000 live foal, Constitution stood for $40,000 for the 2020 season, and there's no question that demand for the stallion will rise following his current-year successes.

When Twin Creeks partnered with WinStar to race Constitution, then send the horse to stud, the Twin Creeks organization also acquired mares to help support their interest in the horse. Gullatt said that Twin Creeks retains nine shares in Constitution and that the operation bought the Belmont Stakes winner's dam, Tizfiz (Tiznow) because “she was value and was an outcross to all our stallions,” Gullatt noted. “Physically, she was a stocky mare about 15.3, which is where Tiz the Law got his size, I'd guess. She looked like a Tiznow sprinter but was a Grade 2 winner who could go long. Just the sweetest, classiest mare to be around.”

Purchased in 2014 for $125,000 at the Keeneland November sale in foal to Horse of the Year Mineshaft (A.P. Indy), Tizfiz produced the Belmont winner as her second foal (fifth overall) for Twin Creeks. Since then, she has a 2-year-old filly named Angel Oak and a yearling colt by the Twin Creeks sire Mission Impazible (Unbridled's Song). Tizfiz is in foal to Constitution for 2021.

On the racetrack, Tizfiz won the G2 San Gorgonio Handicap and three other stakes, and she placed third in the G2 Buena Vista Handicap. The 16-year-old mare is a full sister to Fury Kapcori, winner of the G3 Precisionist Stakes and second in the G1 Hollywood Futurity. Their dam is by Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin (Pleasant Tap) and is out of a stakes-placed half-sister to Horse of the Year Favorite Trick (Phone Trick).

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