Runhappy Travers | Horse Racing Free Tips

Tiz the Law Drills Five-Furlong Bullet in Penultimate Derby Breeze

Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz the Law (Constitution), a looming prohibitive favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, recorded his second-to-last breeze before the Sept. 5 Run for the Roses when covering five furlongs in a bullet :59.47 (1/39) over the Saratoga main track Sunday morning. The Barclay Tagg trainee was scheduled to breeze Saturday at the Spa, but had his work pushed back a day after a sudden downpour drastically changed the track conditions.

Working under cover of darkness at 5:30 a.m. Sunday under exercise rider Heather Smullen, Tiz the Law clicked off his three-furlong split in :35 3/5 before galloping out six panels in 1:12 4/5 and up in 1:26 flat (XBTV video).

“It went fast enough, but not too fast,” Tagg told the NYRA notes team. “It was a little quicker than usual, but it wasn’t too quick for him. He’s a pretty fast horse. I told Heather I wanted a good work in him. I didn’t want to set any records out there. I wanted her to keep a good snug hold on him. I wanted a good work.”

The breeze was Tiz the Law’s first since romping with a career-best 109 Beyer in the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 8. He is scheduled to breeze once more next weekend before shipping to Churchill Downs.

“This is an important workout. In one way, I don’t have any way to make up for it,” Tagg said. “It’s the first thing he has done in the last two or three weeks. That’s why I needed a good work today. If he goes a little too slow going on top of the race, I wouldn’t want that, but I don’t want it too fast either. It’s going to have to be almost perfect. If it’s just like today, that would be fine. I can only work him two times before this race. To me, this work was more important.”

Smullen added that the darkness affected Tiz the Law’s focus in the early part of the work before the colt buckled down for the stretch run.

“It was a little dark and he wasn’t quite as focused going down the backside,” she said. “He was playing around. At the three-eighths pole, I took my stick out. He stayed nice and straight. I never had to ask him. At the eighth pole, he saw a horse. I didn’t have to do anything. He finished up his work. Galloping out, he just kept going. He’s good at what he does.”

Elsewhere on the Derby contender worktab Sunday, John C. Oxley’s Enforceable (Tapit) drilled six furlongs in 1:12.20 (1/2) Sunday morning at Churchill. Last seen running fourth in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S., the gray worked in the fog under Adam Beschizza in company with stablemate Ghost Fighter (Tapit) and got his final five-eighths in :59.20.

“He’s doing extremely well,” said trainer Mark Casse. “This was his last big breeze. They caught him in 12 and 1, but he probably went a little faster because we broke him off at the five and a half and we worked him a sixteenth past the wire, but it was so foggy. The time isn’t as important as how well he did it. Adam said he couldn’t get him pulled up until the three-eighths pole. He’s doing very well and is holding his weight good. I told Mr. Oxley that I don’t know where he fits with this group, but we couldn’t ask him to be any better than he is right now.”

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On To The Derby For Travers Runner-Up Caracaro; Rice Keeping Max Player’s Options Open

It's on to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby for Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing's Caracaro, runner-up in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trainer Gustavo Delgado said he was pleased with the way Caracaro exited the “Mid-Summer Derby,” his second race in three weeks off a six-month layoff.

“He came back very good. He's happy, he ate his food, he's relaxed. Right now, he's sleeping. Everything's good,” Delgado said. “We'll check with the vet and talk with the owners and my son and decide. As long as there's no problems, we'll go to the Derby.

“Yesterday was a big race, a strong race. I consider Tiz the Law the best horse in the country,” he added. “In the Travers, they were all good horses. It was his second race after the six months and to run second again was very good for us.”

Caracaro earned 40 qualifying points for the Derby in the Travers, where he was 5 1/2 lengths behind Tiz the Law but two lengths clear of Max Player in third. Caracaro picked up 20 points for his neck defeat in the Grade 2 Peter Pan on July 16 at Saratoga and ranks 10th, solidifying his spot in the 20-horse Derby field.

“That's what we wanted and that was the plan. It's always been the plan with him. We're kind of satisfied that we accomplished that,” Delgado's son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado, Jr. said. “Of course we know there's a freak horse around. We do think that our horse still has a lot of room for improvement. He's still developing, you can tell, and we were asking a lot from him.

“I think running after three weeks, one more furlong, out of that effort in the Peter Pan, to come back in the Travers, a tougher race, a tougher field, and he showed up again,” he added. “His figure numbers keep improving. He handled the distance pretty well. You can tell he kept going, at his own pace, but he kept going. We were just second-best. But he beat all the other horses, so that was good.”

Delgado, Jr. said Caracaro is expected to remain in Saratoga to train for the Derby, which was rescheduled from May 2 to September 5. It will be the third trip to Louisville for the Delgados, who ran 18th with Majesto in 2016 and 13th with Bodexpress in 2019.

“It's going to be a long and very exciting three weeks,” Delgado, Jr. said. “It's more likely that we will stay here. I don't think shipping the horse the next few days would be good for him. He will go through regular post-race stress so it's better if he stays here, and he likes it here, the weather and everything. Ideally, we will stay here and train for the Derby and ship right before the race. That's what makes more sense right now.”

'Baby Steps' Forward For Third-Place Finishers Max Player
George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player continued his career-long trend of finishing in the money, earning third-place honors for the second consecutive Grade 1 with his black-type effort in Saturday's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers.

Just like in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20, Max Player stayed off the pace in the 151st running of the Travers before finishing strong to earn a placing in a race won by New York-bred Tiz the Law.

Under jockey Joel Rosario for the second consecutive start, Max Player went four-wide in the upper stretch and hit the wire two lengths back of runner-up Caracaro, who was 5 1/2 lengths behind the runaway winner and 1-2 favorite.

Bred by K&G Stables in Kentucky, Max Player is 2-1-2 in five career starts for trainer Linda Rice.

“He came out of it really well,” Rice said. “He's a little tired, but otherwise, he's in good shape.”

Max Player earned a 99 Beyer for the effort, the best of his career and exceeding his previous high of 92 garnered in the Belmont Stakes. He has improved his speed figures in every start, beginning with a 68 in a second-place debut effort as a juvenile in November at Parx. After breaking his maiden at second asking to cap his 2-year-old year in December over a sloppy and sealed Parx main track, Max Player earned an 86 for his 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Withers in his stakes – and sophomore – debut in February at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“We were pleased with it,” Rice said. “He's continued to improve and taken baby steps forward. So, we were pleased with that. He's been pretty consistent and has been moving forward with gentle progress. We're happy with that. He came out of it fine and he's sleeping a lot today since he ran hard and is a bit tired. But all in all, he came out of the race well.”

Max Player earned 20 qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby on September 5 at Churchill Downs, with the Runhappy Travers awarding 100-40-20-10 to the top-four finishers. He sits ninth on the Derby leaderboard with 60 total points and $337,500 in non-restricted stakes earnings. With the “Run for the Roses” expected to draw its usual full field of 20, that would put Max Player in contention to give Rice her first career Derby starter should the connections decide to ship him there.

“We're certainly going to keep that option open,” Rice said. “We'll give it a few days and I'll discuss it further with George and Joe De Perio [president of SportBLX] and talk about that later in the week.”

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Baffert: Distance Won’t Be a Problem for Gamine

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

As spectacular as Gamine (Into Mischief) was in the GI Longines Test S., the win failed to answer the only question that remains unanswered when it comes to a filly who shows superstar potential. She demolished her opposition, including the talented Venetian Harbor (Munnings) in the seven-furlong race, but will she be able to do the same at nine furlongs in the GI Kentucky Oaks?

Her two biggest wins, the Test and the GI Longines Acorn S., have come at a mile or less and around one turn. In her only start around two turns and racing beyond a mile, she gutted out a win in a mile-and-a-sixteenth allowance race at Oaklawn, albeit over a talented stakes horse in Speech (Mr. Speaker). Therefore the doubts.

But trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday he is not worried about stretching his filly out for the Oaks. In the Test, he saw a horse that not only was spectacular, but won the race the right way. Facing off against another horse with electric early speed in Venetian Harbor, she showed no signs of being headstrong or overeager. With John Velazquez aboard, Gamine set the pace, but did so in comfortable early fractions of 22.70 and 45.14.

“I was worried about Venetian Harbor and whether or not they would go way too fast early,” Baffert said. “Johnny V did a great job. He kept her nice and relaxed. She has always had so much quality and now she is learning to relax.”

Baffert said that he changed bits on Gamine after the Acorn, one that he hoped would help her settle down and be more manageable.

Using a seven-furlong race to prepare for a mile-and-an-eighth event is an unusual move, but Baffert said it was a priority to win major Grade I races with a filly who cost $1.8 million at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic 2-year-old sale.

“I wasn’t ready to stretch her out,” Baffert said. “It’s very important to get those Grade Is like the Acorn and the Test. Now, when we send her long she will be fresher.”

While Gamine won the Acorn by 18 3/4 lengths, the Test may have been her most impressive win to date. Venetian Harbor is a good horse and Gamine ran away from her with ease. Velazquez did not ask her for anything in the stretch, but she managed to pull away and win by seven lengths. Her time was 1:20.83, considerably faster than the 1:21.63 it took for Serengetti Empress (Alternation) to beat older fillies and mares in the GI Ballerina S. Her Beyer number was a 108.

“What she’s doing is crazy, just incredible,” Baffert said.

She will have to again be at her best in the Kentucky Oaks. Not only will she be running at a demanding distance but she will likely face another star filly in Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil). Another race where she runs away from the field would cement her status as one of the very best fillies of her generation.

“Her last two races have been incredible,” Baffert said. “She does it with ease. She doesn’t look like she’s going that fast. Silverbulletday was that type of filly. It’s fun to have one like that.”

Baffert said the Oaks will be next and ruled out starting Gamine against males. After the Acorn, he brought up the possibility of Gamine running in the GI Preakness S.

The Quadruple Crown

Tiz the Law (Constitution) has a chance to join a small and select group of horses that have swept the Triple Crown and also the GI Runhappy Travers S. Of the 13 Triple Crown winners only one, Whirlaway (1941), has won all four races.

The first to try it was Gallant Fox, the 1930 Triple Crown winner. Before what was then the biggest crowd in Saratoga history, his loss to Jim Dandy, a 100-1 shot, is considered one of the biggest upsets in racing history.

The next Triple Crown winner to appear in the Travers was Affirmed, who crossed the wire first but was disqualified for bothering his rival Alydar in 1978. In 2015, American Pharoah didn’t have his best stuff and finished second.

After finishing second in the Whitney H., Secretariat passed on the 1973 Travers, but was paraded before the fans prior to the race.

While anything can happen, Tiz the Law certainly looks headed for a Triple Crown sweep. He will likely be the shortest priced favorite in the Derby since Chief’s Crown went off at 6-5 when third in 1985. And if he wins the Derby, the Preakness might shape up as one of the easiest Triple Crown races ever. With the race coming four weeks before the Breeders’ Cup and if Tiz the Law has continued to dominate, the Preakness looks like a hard sell to all trainers not named Barclay Tagg.

Green Gratto Done

Things could not have gone worse for 10-year-old Green Gratto (Here’s Zealous) in his controversial return to the races Sunday at Monmouth. A Grade I winner who had not started since April 2018, he was last and eased in a $20,000 claimer for New Jersey-breds. He was not pulled up and eventually crossed the wire, 41 1/4 lengths behind the winner.

Afterward, owner Norm Wilson said the horse would go back into retirement.

“He did hurt himself a little bit but nothing serious,” Wilson said. “He did clip a heel. But I doubt that was the whole reason. Everything else checked out good. We’re just assuming he’s telling us he is done. The indication was that he didn’t want to do it.”

Wilson defended his decision to run the horse, who won the GI Carter H. in 2017.

“I have no regrets,” he said. “I’m not about to go around second-guessing myself. I made the decision and I have to live with it. I was expecting better. He was enjoying training but looked like he didn’t enjoy racing. Training and racing are two different things.”

Wilson said Green Gratto will return to his farm in Ocala, Florida and has promised that that will be his permanent home.

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Tiz the Law in Good Order After Travers Romp, On to Derby

Sackatoga Stable’s GI Runhappy Travers S. winner Tiz the Law (Constitution) was bright-eyed the morning after his dominant 5 1/2-length victory in Saratoga’s marquee race, for which he received a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure. Shortly after training concluded for the morning, trainer Barclay Tagg was at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch standing next to the garland of carnations that had been draped around the now four-time Grade I winner’s neck Saturday. Tagg said his star 3-year-old colt was in good order.

“He looks fine,” Tagg told the NYRA notes team. “I was very pleased with the way he ran. He did everything a good horse ought to do and did it perfectly.”

After becoming the first New York-bred to win the GI Belmont S. in 138 years, Tiz the Law became the first horse bred in the Empire State to win the Travers since Thunder Rumble in 1992. Tiz the Law will now point to the GI Kentucky Derby Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs, which Tagg won with Sackatoga’s Funny Cide in 2003.

“He seems to terrorize the competition when he makes his move,” Tagg said. “Every race I’ve seen, even the first one, has been great. He came off that turn, and I thought, ‘They’re going to run by him like he’s standing still’ and then I look again and he’s three in front. It was the same way yesterday. I thought, ‘Get into him, Manny’ and he just kept running, running, running.”

Tiz the Law will likely have two breezes prior to the Derby, according to Tagg.

“He’ll gallop every day,” Tagg said. “He’ll have about 10 days before we breeze him again. We’ll probably only be able to get two breezes in him before we go out there. We’ll go out there a week ahead of time.”

Travers runner-up Caracaro (Uncle Mo) is likely Derby bound, reported trainer Gustavo Delgado. The lightly-raced colt would be making just his fifth career start in Louisville.

“He came back very good. He’s happy, he ate his food, he’s relaxed. Right now, he’s sleeping. Everything’s good,” Delgado said. “We’ll check with the vet and talk with the owners and my son and decide. As long as there’s no problems, we’ll go to the Derby. Yesterday was a big race, a strong race. I consider Tiz the Law the best horse in the country.”

Third finisher Max Player (Honor Code), who also ran third in the Belmont, has enough qualifying points to be trainer Linda Rice’s first Derby starter, but Rice said she would wait a bit to make a decision on the race.

“He came out of it really well,” Rice said. “He’s a little tired, but otherwise, he’s in good shape. He’s continued to improve and taken baby steps forward. So, we were pleased with that. He’s been pretty consistent and has been moving forward with gentle progress. We’re happy with that. We’re certainly going to keep [the Derby] option open. We’ll give it a few days and I’ll discuss it further with George and Joe De Perio [president of co-owner SportBLX Thoroughbreds] and talk about that later in the week.”

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