Triple Crown | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘I’ve Never Seen Him Take A Deep Breath’: Tagg Unconcerned About Travers Distance With Tiz The Law

Trainer Barclay Tagg is looking forward to Saturday's Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga with even money morning-line favorite Tiz The Law, and he doesn't believe the 1 1/4-mile distance will be a problem for the 3-year-old son of Constitution.

“He's done everything we've asked him to do,” Tagg told NYRA publicity after Wednesday's post position draw. “We've been very fortunate. I don't think any distance makes a difference for this horse. From what I've seen, I just don't have any feeling that he can't handle it. It would be nice to win it if we could.

“I've never seen him take a deep breath. I've never had him out of breath after a workout. I've never had him way out of breath after a race and he [cools] off very quickly. His lungs settle right down and nothing seems to be a hazard. I could be all wrong in that. It might change in another eighth of a mile, I don't know, but I've got no reason to worry about it.”

Tiz the Law will break from post position six in a field of eight, and the Sackatoga Stable colt will be ridden by regular jockey Manny Franco.

“I think he's matured enough now that outside or inside is not going to bother him too much,” said Tagg of the post. “I'd prefer that he's on the outside just because you have less chance of getting in trouble. Not that you can't, but you have less chance. I think post 6 is fine. Five would have been fine. Four would have been fine. Any of those three would have been fine with me.”

The Belmont Stakes and Florida Derby winner has a total of 272 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and tops the current leaderboard approaching the rescheduled classic on Sept. 5. The $1 million Travers will offer 100-40-20-10 points to the top-four finishers.

With four weeks between the Travers and the Run for the Roses, Tiz the Law will face a field that includes lightly-raced Bob Baffert trainee Uncle Chuck, last-out winner of the Los Alamitos Derby.

“Bob Baffert does very, very well,” Tagg said. “He's got fresh stock all the time and good horses, so you've always got to be concerned. But if you let the concern bother you too much, you wouldn't be racing horses. You can't worry about that. All I worry about his having my horse get there the best we can get him there. He's done everything we've asked him to do.”

The full field for the Travers is as follows:

First Line – Orlando Noda – David Cohen (30-1)
Country Grammer – Chad Brown – Irad Ortiz, Jr. (6-1)
Uncle Chuck – Bob Baffert – Luis Saez (5-2)
Max Player – Linda Rice – Joel Rosario (6-1)
Shivaree – Ralph Nicks – Junior Alvarado (30-1)
Tiz the Law – Barclay Tagg – Manny Franco (1-1)
Caracaro – Gustavo Delgado – Javier Castellano (10-1)
South Bend – Bill Mott – Jose Ortiz (15-1)

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Major Fed Team Decides To Skip Ellis Park Derby, Train Up To Kentucky Derby

Major Fed, runner-up in the Indiana Derby on July 8, had been under consideration for Sunday's Ellis Park Derby at the Henderson, Ky. track. Instead, Travis Foley, assistant and son to trainer Greg Foley, told the Daily Racing Form that the 3-year-old son of Ghostzapper will head straight to the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.

Based at Churchill Downs, Major Fed worked a half-mile beneath the Twin Spires in :50.20 on Aug. 1.

“We're happy with where we are with him and comfortable with the points situation,” the younger Foley told drf.com. “Everything's good and we didn't feel like we needed the race in between.”

Major Fed also owns a second-place finish in the G2 Risen Star Stakes, and a fourth from the G2 Louisiana Derby, leaving him with a total of 38 points toward the Kentucky Derby. He currently sits 16th on the points leaderboard.

Kentucky Governor Fields Questions About Derby Spectators, Watching State’s COVID Numbers Carefully

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told press Tuesday that he will meet with officials at Churchill Downs next week to confer about safety protocols for this year's Kentucky Derby. Beshear answered questions from reporters after an announcement that the Indy 500 will take place with no fans.

Beshear said that if the race were about to be run in the coming days, he would like to see changes to the track's plan, which calls for reduced capacity in all areas of the facility. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, plans approved by Beshear in May call for a 33 percent capacity in outdoor dining areas, 61 percent fewer general admission tickets, and 57 percent less outdoor seating. Churchill Downs officials said on an earnings call last week that the track had stopped selling its limited offer of general admission tickets recently despite not selling out.

The Courier-Journal reported Churchill Downs staff are in regular communication with Beshear's office and public health officials and will be monitoring COVID-19 statistics particularly closely through the next week. Daily statewide totals of coronavirus positives have increased sharply from what they were in March and April. The state's positivity rate has also climbed to 5.24 percent Tuesday based on a seven-day rolling average. State health officials have urged Kentucky residents to avoid travel to states experiencing spikes in COVID-19 positives, and to quarantine for two weeks after returning from travel to states with a 15 percent positivity rate or higher.

Read more at the Louisville Courier-Journal

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‘He Covers A Lot Of Ground’: Baffert Compares Travers Contender Uncle Chuck To Arrogate

Though the bottom side of Uncle Chuck's pedigree suggests he might prefer one turn, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is sending the 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo east to contest the 1 1/4-mile G1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga this Saturday.

“One of the reasons I bought him, when I saw him, he's an Uncle Mo with all speed in there, but if you look at him he just doesn't look it,” Baffert said on Tuesday's NTRA teleconference. “He was big, tall, lanky, not like a typical Uncle Mo… He's got the body of a two-turn horse.”

A $250,000 yearling at the Keeneland September sale, Uncle Chuck went to Barry Eisaman for his early training. Baffert specifically told Eisaman not to rush the big colt, that he didn't plan to run him at two. In fact, Uncle Chuck didn't debut until June of his 3-year-old year, winning his first start over a mile at Santa Anita by seven lengths. In his second start, the colt posted a four-length win over stablemate Thousand Words in the G3 Los Alamitos Derby.

“A horse like Uncle Chuck, he would never have run in the (Kentucky) Derby, but now he's got a chance,” Baffert said, referring to Churchill Downs' decision to delay the Run for the Roses to Sept. 5. “We just let him grow into himself, the same thing that happened with Arrogate.”

It isn't the first time Baffert has compared Uncle Chuck to Arrogate, the record-setting Travers winner of 2016.

“I really think with his stride, he covers a lot a ground,” said Baffert. “The ground that he covers reminds me of Arrogate. He handles it well, doesn't get tired.”

There are questions left to be answered, however. Uncle Chuck will be shipping across the country to for the first time in his short career, and he'll be facing a tough group of more experienced rivals, including likely favorite, the Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law.

“I've been very impressed with (Tiz the Law),” Baffert said. “They have managed him well and picked the right spots with him. I think he has progressed perfectly. He definitely is the best 3-year-old in the country right now. I'll get an idea if I can run with him or not. It is going to be exciting, but we're hoping we are as good as he is, that is why we are going over there.”

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