Summer fun has come to an end for Tiz the Law. Now, the most powerful 3-year-old colt in the country is resuming the march to his destiny.
It started 71 days ago when the horse with the big white blaze and the haunting white circles around his eyes turned the Belmont Stakes into his own personal playground. That was the first leg of the Triple Crown in the most unusual year ever in the history of thoroughbred racing. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it has been the most unusual year, period. For everything.
The most popular event on the American racing calendar comes at us Saturday when the 146th Kentucky Derby is run at Churchill Downs. Normally the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Derby is second up this year. Tiz the Law, after blowing away the field in the Belmont on June 20, is the only horse that can win the coveted triple.
The final leg, the Preakness in Baltimore, will be run on Oct. 3.
It is expected that when the Kentucky Derby field and odds are announced on Tuesday, Tiz the Law will be assigned the lowest morning line odds by Churchill oddsmaker Mike Battaglia since he made Arazi 6-5 in 1992 (he went off at 4-5 and finished eighth).
"That's a little daunting," Jack Knowlton, the operating manager of Sackatoga Stable, which owns Tiz the Law, said on a humid, overcast morning outside of his star's barn on the Saratoga backstretch Saturday morning.
Tiz the Law has earned the moniker of the baddest thoroughbred in the land by blowing out his competition in all four of his starts this year. Every start has seemed easier than the one before.
A three-length win in the Holy Bull; 4 1/2 in the Florida Derby, 3 3/4 in the Belmont and, the most recent, a 5 1/2-length romp in the Travers. That came here on Aug. 8 as Tiz the Law took some time out from his summer vacation to show he still can run and run and run.
His time at the Spa grows short. He has been here since July 13 and will depart on Monday when he flies to Churchill Downs, where he will have his final preparations for the Derby. Tiz the Law had his final major workout on Saturday as trainer Barclay Tagg was able to beat the rain and get him out for a five-furlong breeze that went in 59.21 seconds.
"It was probably a little faster than he needed to go," Tagg said after training hours were over. "But the track was very fast, too. He is just a pleasure to train."
Heather Smullen, who has been on Tiz the Law for all five of his Saratoga works this summer, continued to marvel over how easy everything has been for her partner.
"Sitting on him, he feels better and stronger even out of the Travers," Smullen, the niece of Tagg's assistant Robin Smullen, said Saturday morning. "Usually, a race will seem to set a horse back a little bit. He does not feel that way at all."
Heather Smullen will be part of the entourage that accompanies Tiz the Law to Louisville. She will be on the plane with him as will his groom, Juan Barajas Saldana. Tagg is driving to Louisville, leaving Sunday. Knowlton will fly separately from the horse on Monday as will Manny Franco, Tiz the Law's jockey.
"He is ready for whatever is going to happen," Franco said.
The Derby is expected to draw a field of 17, maybe 18 horses. It will be the largest field Tiz the Law — or any of them — have ever been in. Tiz the Law is the only one to have won at the Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles. That could be a huge advantage.
Tagg and the Sackatoga crew won the Derby in 2003 with Funny Cide and the trainer is just as cautious now as he was then. Maybe more so.
"He's not there yet," Tagg said as raindrops fell. "So many things can go wrong. You get off the plane and have a crowd of you guys around and he hits his hip coming off the plane or the train or the buggy or the van. It's all he needs to do."
Tagg has always been protective of his horses. When he has one as good as this one, he becomes papa bear. He will do everything to make sure this horse is away from people that should not be around him. If he could send Tiz the Law to Kentucky in bubble wrap, he would.
He is also concerned over protests in Louisville over the March 13 police shooting of an unarmed black woman, Breonna Taylor, in Louisville. Protests have continued in that city, and 64 arrests were made Tuesday near Churchill Downs.
"Very concerned," Tagg said. "I couldn't be anything else but very, very concerned. I don't want my people hurt, I don't want myself hurt, I don't want the horse hurt. The world is crazy right now and, hopefully, we can pull it off without something disastrous happening."
The Derby will be run for the first time in front of no fans after Churchill Downs officials announced recently that because of concerns about COVID-19, the stands would be empty. Last year, the Derby attendance was 150,729. It is expected that the track will announce that owners will be able to attend to watch their horses run.
Knowlton and his Sackatoga gang are going to focus only on the race and their horse and a chance to continue to gallop into the history books.
"It's the biggest thing in horse racing," Knowlton said. "It's not going to be normal, but the race is going to be normal. We won't have 160,000 people making noise, but it's two minutes on the race track. It is a little scary saying that going into the Kentucky Derby that you expect to win, but I do."
twilkin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5415 • @tjwilkin
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Tiz the Law set to resume chase for Triple Crown - Times Union
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