saratoga | Horse Racing Free Tips

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

Connections Of Belmont Third Max Player ‘Leaning Towards’ Travers Rematch With Tiz The Law

George E. Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player, who ran third in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20, is being pointed towards the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers, trainer Linda Rice said.

Max Player, who finished only behind Dr Post and winner Tiz the Law in last month's first leg of the Triple Crown, registered his first breeze since the Belmont Stakes, going four furlongs in 49 seconds on Sunday over Belmont Park's dirt training track.

“He's doing very well. That was his first breeze since the Belmont and it was just a nice, comfortable breeze, and he's in good order,” Rice said.

Never off the board in four career starts, Max Player could next make his Saratoga debut by running in the “Mid-Summer Derby.” He made his first two starts at Parx, running second in his debut at one mile on November 12 before winning at the same distance at second asking on December 17.

In his sophomore debut, he bested an eight-horse field by 3 ¼ lengths in the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Withers on February 1 at Aqueduct Racetrack. That was his previous start since the Belmont Stakes, which was shortened from its famed 1 ½-mile distance to a one-turn 1 1/8 miles to accommodate the revised schedule for 3-year-olds in training.

With the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby set for September 5 and serving as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown this year, Max Player can accumulate even more qualifying points, with the Travers offering a 100-40-20-10 scale to the top-four finishers.

Max Player has accumulated 40 qualifying points for the “Run for the Roses” and is 12th on the current leaderboard for a race that has traditionally taken as many as 20 entries.

Contested at 1 1/4 miles, the Travers would be the longest race Max Player has run, but Rice said she is optimistic the Honor Code colt could handle it.

“We're leaning towards running in the Travers,” Rice said. “We looked at some other options with the [Grade 1] Haskell [at Monmouth] or the [Grade 3] Peter Pan [July 16 at Saratoga], but we are going to point right to the Travers.”

Wicked Trick, who finished fourth in the Grade 2 True North on June 27 at Belmont, will be getting a freshening after three races to start his 5-year-old campaign. The Hat Trick gelding won his seasonal bow against allowance company on January 20 at Aqueduct before running fifth in the Stymie on March 7.

After stepping up to graded stakes company for the first time in 23 career starts in the True North, Rice said she decided to give the Kentucky bred who she co-owns with Stephen Cooper a respite.

“He's just been a little dull lately, so I just sent him to the farm to give him some time off,” Rice said.

Rice has saddled four winners during the Belmont spring/summer meet, which started June 3 and will conclude on Sunday, July 12. She will gear up for the Saratoga meet that runs from July 16 through September 7. Rice has enjoyed success at the Spa, highlighted by the 2009 meet in which she captured the training title.

“I think we were all very happy to just get back to racing in these unusual times,” Rice said. “It's given a lot of relief to the horsemen and the owners so that we can maintain these horses in our stables. Saratoga will be unusual this year as well for sure, but we're just all happy to be back to racing.”

The post Connections Of Belmont Third Max Player ‘Leaning Towards’ Travers Rematch With Tiz The Law appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘We’d Love To Complete The New York Circle’: Tiz The Law Continues Moving Forward Toward Travers

Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law resumed serious business on Wednesday morning, posting a five-furlong breeze over Belmont Park's main track for trainer Barclay Tagg.

Under the guidance of regular rider Manny Franco, the three-time Grade 1-winning son of second crop sire Constitution recorded his work in 1:01.10 over a main track rated fast. The move was a second work for Tiz the Law since being the first New York-bred in over a century to capture the Belmont Stakes. Last Wednesday, he went an easy half-mile in 50.06 seconds.

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

Unbeaten in all three starts during his sophomore campaign, Tiz the Law began 2020 with wins in the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby, both at Gulfstream Park, en route to a victory in the Belmont Stakes, which was run as the first leg of the Triple Crown following a rescheduling of the national stakes calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiz the Law, bred in the Empire State by Twin Creeks Farm, began his career with a maiden triumph against fellow New York-breds at Saratoga Race Course before winning the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park. His only loss took place in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs, where he was third beaten three-quarters of a length over a sloppy main track.

Tiz the Law remains on target for the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers on August 8 at Saratoga Race. The colt currently tops the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 272 points and could add to those totals in the Runhappy Travers, which offers 100-40-20-10 to the top-four finishers.

“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, Manny 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.”

Knowlton has been down a similar road before when Funny Cide won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness finishing third in the Belmont Stakes but was scratched from that year's Travers.

Knowlton said a win in the Runhappy Travers would be a huge deal for the Sackatoga team.

“Once he won the Champagne in the fall, he was on everyone's radar screen as a top 3-year-old,” Knowlton said. “We had a small bump in the road when we went to Kentucky, but as soon as he won the Holy Bull in Florida, he was right back on top of everyone's list. We're just taking it one race at a time. It will be interesting. No one will have run a mile and a quarter before the Travers and it will be unusual that some horses will have run a mile and quarter before the Derby. This was a race we could have had Funny Cide in, but he got sick. We'd love to complete the New York circle.”

Tiz the Law is scheduled ship to Saratoga on Monday, July 13, where he will continue to train for the Runhappy Travers.

The post ‘We’d Love To Complete The New York Circle’: Tiz The Law Continues Moving Forward Toward Travers appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mott: Maturity, Blinkers Contribute To Improvement By Suburban Winner Tacitus

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott enjoyed a successful Saturday afternoon in taking two of the five graded stakes carded for Runhappy Met Mile Day at Belmont Park.

Mott sent out Frank's Rockette and now three-time graded stakes winning multimillionaire Tacitus to respective victories in the Grade 3 Victory Ride and Grade 2 Suburban. He reported that both of his graded stakes heroes exited their triumphs in good order.

“They both ran really well and really hard, but the good thing is they look great this morning,” Mott said.

Owned by Juddmonte Farms, Tacitus registered a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the 8 3/4-length victory under Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez, which ended a seven-race slump for the 4-year-old Tapit gray. During his sophomore campaign last year, Tacitus won the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs and Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct en route to placings in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

Mott made an equipment change with Tacitus for the Suburban, adding blinkers.

“It seemed to help quite a bit. The maturity and the blinkers all kind of seemed to come together,” Mott said.

Mott said Tacitus would target “one or the other” between the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney at nine furlongs on August 1 or the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward at ten furlongs at Saratoga on Sept. 5.

Named after an ancient Roman senator, the Kentucky homebred Tacitus is out of 2014 Champion Older Filly Close Hatches and is a direct descendant of 1982 Broodmare of the Year Best In Show.

Mott reported that the Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test on August 8 at Saratoga is an option for Frank's Rockette.

“We had talked about that as a plan, it will be based on how she comes out of this. It will take two or three days,” said owner Frank Fletcher. “She had been training really well and was at the top of her game and that's always the Test. She'll face some of these same horses again and more.”

Fletcher knew that Saturday's race would be no easy task for his Into Mischief filly.

“I have a lot of respect for the other horses in the race. I knew it was going to be tough, but she had to fight,” Fletcher said. “She came out of the gate a little slow for her, and she was not on the lead, had to fight to get her head in front and it appeared to be that she was in constant pressure the whole way. That's what I was scared of and worried about. There was never a chance for her or the other horses to catch a breath. She was running her heart out from the time she stepped out of the gate.”

Fletcher watched the Victory Ride from his home in Little Rock, Ark., alongside his family as well as his 5-year-old longhaired German Shepherd Rocket, who is the namesake behind all of Fletcher's horses.

“He was in there with us when we were watching. He goes crazy when we all go crazy. He was barking a lot,” Fletcher said. “We were like 5-year-old children running around hugging each other. We had a steak dinner to celebrate. We wish we could have been there.”

Frank's Rockette, a Kentucky homebred, is out of the graded stakes winning Indian Charlie broodmare Rocket Twentyone, who won the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie in 2011.

The post Mott: Maturity, Blinkers Contribute To Improvement By Suburban Winner Tacitus appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post