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Team Tiz The Law, Artist Montgomery To Sign Travers Stakes Posters On Aug. 24

Renowned equine artist Greg Montgomery and the connections of 2020 Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law — jockey Manny Franco, trainer Barclay Tagg, and Sackatoga Stable operating manager Jack Knowlton — will sign copies of Montgomery's 2021 Travers Stakes poster on Tuesday, Aug. 24 at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. This year's poster, which is the 36th in Montgomery's iconic series honoring the Travers, features Tiz the Law winning the 151st edition of the Midsummer Derby. Posters will be available for purchase for $50.

Exactly one year after winning his career debut at Saratoga Race Course, Tiz the Law returned to the famous Spa oval with a 5½-length victory in the 2020 Travers with Franco in the irons. The New York-bred son of Constitution entered the Travers following victories in the Belmont Stakes, Florida Derby, and Holy Bull Stakes. Tiz the Law was retired earlier this year with a career record of 6-1-1 from nine starts and earnings of $2,735,300. He is now a stallion at Coolmore America in Kentucky.

Franco, who currently ranks No. 9 among North American jockeys with earnings of more than $8.8 million this year, has won 1,556 races in a career that began in 2013. Along with the Travers and Belmont, his top victories include the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, Diana Stakes, Sword Dancer, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Fourstardave Handicap, Frizette Stakes, and Vosburgh Stakes, among others.

Tagg has won 1,595 races in his distinguished career, including all three Triple Crown events. He won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes with Sackatoga's champion Funny Cide in 2003 and completed his career sweep of the American Classics when Tiz the Law won the Belmont in 2020. Along with Funny Cide and Tiz the Law, Tagg has trained millionaires Showing Up, Nobiz Like Shobiz, and Tale of Ekati.

Knowlton has served as Sackatoga's operating manager since 1995. He has also contributed to the thoroughbred racing community in New York and nationally, serving as a member of the NTRA Jockey Insurance Working Group, as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Future of Racing in New York State, and on New York State's Task Force on Retired Race Horses. He also played a leadership role in assisting the New York State Gaming Commission in organizing Aftercare Summits in Saratoga Springs in 2015 and 2016. Under Knowlton's leadership, Sackatoga Stable has consistently been a supporter of various aftercare organizations, including Old Friends at Cabin Creek and Equine Advocates.

Montgomery has been producing artwork associated with Saratoga Race Course's famed Travers Stakes since 1986. The annual Travers posters represent the longest continuing series of art featuring a single event by a single artist in racing history. Montgomery has worked as an art director for General Electric and Capital Region Magazine, as well as design editor for the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union. In 2008, he published the book “The History and Art of 25 Travers” along with writer Vic Zast. In 2015, his Travers series was featured in an exhibit at the National Museum of Racing, entitled Greg Montgomery: 30 years of the Travers.

Montgomery's Travers poster series has been inspired by the rich history of the Travers Stakes, the first race contested on Saratoga Race Course's opening day on Aug. 2, 1864. Named in honor of William R. Travers, the first president of the Saratoga Association, the inaugural Travers Stakes was won by future Hall of Fame member Kentucky, a horse Travers owned in partnership.

One of the most prestigious races in America, the Travers has been won by Thoroughbred immortals such as Hall of Famers Buckpasser, Damascus, Easy Goer, Eight Thirty, Hindoo, Holy Bull, Native Dancer, Man o' War, and Twenty Grand. A total of 24 Hall of Fame racehorses have won the Travers.

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Thoroughbred Owner Conference Panel Discusses Importance Of Communication, Integrity

The 2021 Thoroughbred Owner Conference series reached the halfway mark with its fifth virtual session, which was held July 6 and featured the perspectives of leading owners and trainers. The conference series is hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and presented by Bessemer Trust, Dean Dorton Equine, Stoll Keenon Ogden, and Stonestreet Farm.

The session, “Owners & Trainers,” was sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, Taylor Made Farm, and The Green Group. Moderated by Carolyn Conley, panelists included owners Len Green, D.J. Stable; Jack Knowlton, Sackatoga Stable; and Don Little Jr., Centennial Farms. They were joined by Mark Casse, who trains for D.J. Stable; Barclay Tagg, who trains for Sackatoga Stable; and Jimmy Jerkens, who trains for Centennial Farms.

Each member of the group discussed what makes a successful owner/trainer partnership and offered advice to new and prospective owners. Among the suggestions were to choose trainers who will make you a priority and know how to train the types of horses that you want to be racing, whether they are claiming horses or graded stakes horses.

“Try to find a trainer that you're important to and has time to talk to you,” Green said. “Being honest…everyone thinks that's for granted, but it isn't. You need to have common goals.”

“Horsemanship is a key element. I look for someone who doesn't have such a big stable that you're going to be lost,” Knowlton said.

The group also emphasized the importance of trainers who prioritize the welfare of the horses in their care, both on the racetrack and in terms of aftercare.

From the trainers' perspective, the group expressed appreciation for their current owners. They echoed the owners' sentiments of wanting honesty, integrity, and trust as well as owners who encourage them to give horses time off when necessary.

“For the most part, I like giving horses a break. It's something I like doing. You have to have owners who will let you do it,” said Casse.

Don Little pointed out that the racehorse ownership experience should be a positive one. “This is a fun investment. People need to look at this as entertainment.”

He also stressed the importance of aftercare.

“All owners should know that [aftercare] is part of your responsibility if you get in this business,” he said. “Don't just get in to be an owner and win big races; you've got to be conscious about the end result for those horses that aren't at the top level. It's a priority.”

The sixth session of the series, “Jockeys,” will be held on Tuesday, August 3, at 2 p.m. ET. It is sponsored by Airdrie Stud, Starlight Racing, and The Green Group. It will be moderated by former track announcer Tom Durkin, and panelists will include retired jockeys Donna Barton Brothers, Chris McCarron, and Gary Stevens.

All sessions will be recorded and made available to registered guests. There is no registration fee for the live or recorded virtual conference series, but registration is required. For more information about the owner conference series, including the full schedule of panels and registration, please visit ownerview.com/event/conference or contact Gary Falter at gfalter@jockeyclub.com.

OwnerView is a joint effort spearheaded by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to encourage ownership of Thoroughbreds and provide accurate information on aspects of ownership such as trainers, public racing syndicates, the process of purchasing and owning a Thoroughbred, racehorse retirement, and owner licensing.

The need for a central resource to encourage Thoroughbred ownership was identified in the comprehensive economic study of the sport that was commissioned by The Jockey Club and conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2011. The OwnerView site was launched in May 2012.

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Sackatoga Stable Partner Roger Sofer Passes Away

Roger Sofer, a partner in the Sackatoga Stable syndicate that owned GI Belmont S. winner Tiz the Law (Constitution), passed away Wednesday after a bout with leukemia. He was 71.

Sofer, a Houston resident, received the diagnosis that he had leukemia in March 0f 2020, right about the time that Tiz the Law was emerging as one of the leading contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby. He began treatment immediately, undergoing chemotherapy seven days a week. He was let out of the hospital just in time to watch Tiz the Law win the GI Florida Derby, getting home about an hour before the race.

With Tiz the Law continuing to flourish, Safer had found something to take his mind off of his fight against leukemia.

“Tiz has been great because he gives me something else to think about,” Sofer told the TDN in September. “The Houston press has been really good to me. My story has been in the papers here quite a bit. They got all the clippings up in the unit at the hospital, so everybody there knows my story and everybody there is rooting for Tiz.”

After hearing the diagnosis, Sofer grew determined to attend the Derby. With his health beginning to improve, he would have met that goal, but decided not to attend because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“I am devastated,” said Jack Knowlton, the managing partner of Sackatoga. “He just loved the game. He was passionate about it. This is a big loss for Sackatoga and for me personally, He was one of the people I was closest to. We spent an awful lot of time together, particularly at Saratoga. He was just a great guy.”

Sofer was born in Queens and had been a lifelong fan before deciding to go into ownership. He bought a few horses on his own and went in on some others with the team at Hidden Brook Farm. He met Knowlton in 2008 and decided to give Sackatoga a try after watching the stable's Doc N Roll (Wheelaway) win the Cab Calloway S. for New York breds at Saratoga.

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Tiz Just the Beginning

There were just 56 days between Tiz the Law's (Constitution) dazzling sophomore debut in the GIII Holy Bull S. on the first day of February to his next start in the GI Florida Derby. How much could change in that time?

As it turned out, just about everything.

So maybe that's why, during a dark time, this bay colt with the bright, white-blazed face was so easy to cheer for. During uncertain circumstances, the Sackatoga silks with the familiar connections brought a piece of near normalcy to the starting gate.

Even now, as he takes up stud duty at Ashford Stud, Tiz the Law's campaign will long be remembered as one piece of an unforgettable year in racing.

“No one is ever going to forget 2020,” said Ashford's Adrian Wallace. “It was a year in which everyone had been touched in some way or another by the pandemic, by loss. A horse like Tiz the Law, to have gone from the Holy Bull to the Florida Derby to the Belmont Stakes, and then who is ever going to forget the Travers and him running a gallant second in a Kentucky Derby in September? No one is ever going to forget this campaign because of how different it was.”

The fact that this horse was owned by a syndicate of racing fans, Wallace said, made his success all the more meaningful.

“Being owned by a syndicate, he was able to touch so many more people,” he said. “We've seen it when some of his previous owners have come to the farm to visit him. He generated a huge amount of excitement and a huge following. Even though they couldn't go to the races and watch him, [fans] will never forget watching the owners celebrate the Travers win at Saratoga.”

Bred by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law was a $110,000 yearling purchase for Sackatoga's Jack Knowlton at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred Sale.

After a winning debut and easy four-length romp in the GI Champagne S., the son of Constitution had already caught Ashford's attention.

“Tiz the Law stamped himself as a very exciting prospect early in his 2-year-old season,” Wallace said. “The Champagne is a race that, year after year, stamps itself as a stallion-making race. We know first-hand with the likes of Uncle Mo, Scat Daddy and Practical Joke all having won the Champagne. It separates the wheat from the chaff, so any horse that wins in New York at that time of year, we're certainly looking at.”

Following his definitive wins in the GIII Holy Bull S. and GI Florida Derby, Tiz the Law followed an odd Triple Crown trail as he took on the first leg of the series in a nine-furlong GI Belmont S. When jockey Manny Franco cued him while heading into the long Belmont stretch, the bay shifted gears to blow by his foes and become the first New York-bred to win the Belmont since 1882.

Then came the GI Runhappy Travers S., which was slated to run exactly one year after his winning debut at the Spa in 2019. Sent off as the 1-2 favorite, Tiz the Law raced three wide before pouncing on his tiring rivals at the far turn and geared down in the stretch to win by 5 ½ lengths to John Imbriale's call of, “Here he is, Saratoga's hometown hero, Tiz the Law.”

“Only one horse has gone faster since 1990, and that was Arrogate (Unbridled's Song) five years ago,” Wallace noted of the Travers victory. “It just shows how much ability the horse had-how much raw, natural talent. What made Tiz the Law so great was his huge ability to quicken off a high cruising speed. The Travers was one example of that and the Belmont was another. I think that's the key to any great horse, and it was the key to him.”

Arguments arose as to if this horse would be named a Triple Crown champion if he were to win the next two legs of the series. But the controversy died when Tiz the Law had to settle for second against Bob Baffert's eventual GI Breeders' Cup Classic champion Authentic (Into Mischief) in the Run for the Roses.

After a sixth-place finish in the Classic, Tiz the Law's connections were ready for a comeback in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. But after an X–ray revealed bone bruising, the decision was made for him to retire.

The four-time Grade I winner arrived at Ashford with earnings of over $2.7 million, running in the money in all but one of his career starts.

“For a very long period of time, he was right at the top of his generation,” Wallace said. “He was New York's home-bred hero and he really captured the hearts and minds of a lot of people in New York in a very troubling year. That's one of the reasons that, as a four-time Grade I winner, he really resonates with a lot of breeders and a lot of fans.”

Tiz the Law now gives breeders a unique opportunity as the first son of rising young sire Constitution (Tapit) to enter stud.

“It's no secret that Constitution is probably regarded as one of the most promising new sires in the business at the moment,” Wallace said. “Worldwide, he has already sired four Grade I winners, including three from Chile, and Tiz the Law is obviously his marquee horse here. Tiz the Law is a great embodiment of what Constitution has to offer.”

Tiz the Law is out of the Tiznow mare Tizfiz, winner of the 2009 GII San Gorgonio H. and a full-sister to Grade III winner and Grade I-placed Fury Kapcori. Her granddam is a half-sister to Favorite Trick (Phone Trick), who won Horse of the Year honors as a juvenile in 1997.

“It's a family replete with 2-year-old success,” Wallace noted. “Obviously Tiz the Law himself was a very good 2-year-old, so I think it's a pedigree that will offer people a lot of precocity and it will suit a wide array of broodmares here in this country.”

Wallace said the Coolmore team has kept busy since the 4-year-old's arrival as breeders have been out to see the new prospect, who will stand his first season for a $40,000 fee.

“Physically he's all about balance,” he said. “He's an exceptional mover, lots of quality and a lovely nature. A lovely hip and shoulder on him as well. The breeders who have come to see him over the last couple of weeks have been blown away.”

Tiz the Law joins the growing list of fan favorites at Ashford Stud alongside Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.

“What makes any horse special is the amount of people that they can bring into the sport,” Wallace said. “This sport, like any sport, needs heroes. We need storylines. Barclay Tagg has been around for a long time and we'll never forget his role with Sackatoga Stables and Funny Cide (Distorted Humor). To come back with the same owner-trainer combination with a New York-bred, I think that really drew people into the sport. He's a stunning individual and we couldn't be prouder to stand him here.”

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