No doubts on Tiz the Law
Sackatoga Stable colt’s Belmont win sets him up as favorite in Derby
Now, we’re back to normal. Seeing as the Triple Crown finally got started last weekend, we can change the name of our list back to the Derby Dozen. When the coronavirus pandemic turned the sports world upside down, the Derby Dozen became the Triple Crown Dozen because the Kentucky Derby was moved to September ... and you know the rest.
After the Belmont Stakes got us going last weekend, we’re back to a little bit of normalcy.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the leader of our poll. Tiz the Law, the sizzler from Sackatoga Stable, did nothing to change my mind that he is the best 3-yearold in the country when he made things look easy when he waltzed home to win the Belmont by 33/4 lengths. The way he ran last Saturday made me that much more confident in the horse.
Oh, there will be those who say it wasn’t a true Belmont because the distance was 11/8 miles rather than the traditional 11/2 miles. But, it is what it is. Tiz the Law showed up for the Belmont and ran the race at the distance they put in front of him, and he did what he was supposed to do. Don’t penalize the horse for doing his job.
The next step on the road to the Kentucky Derby is another strange one for Tiz the Law. His final prep race for the Run for the Roses will be the Grade I, $1 million Travers at Saratoga. Never thought I would be calling the Travers a Derby prep race, but that’s what it is this year. I also never thought I would be writing that the Travers would be run on the second Saturday in August, but it will this summer.
Travers Day will be Aug. 8. The New York Racing Association switched the date (it would have been Aug. 29 this year if there was no such thing as coronavirus) to accommodate Churchill Downs. The Derby was moved from May 2 to Sept. 5, which would have been the week after the original date for the Travers. If the Travers would have stayed put, no horse could have run in both.
With the Travers six Saturdays away, Jack Knowlton and his Sackatoga crew can sit back and relax just a little bit. They will hope Tiz the Law stays sound and healthy, because, if he does, he is going to be a monster when they get into the starting gate at Saratoga.
“The pressure is off a little bit now,” Knowlton, the operating manager of Sackatoga, said after the Belmont was won. “We can enjoy seven weeks of nobody complaining about him not being as good as he was supposed to be. He will continue to be No. 1, and deservedly so.”