Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
BELMONT 152
TIZ THE LAW HAS OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE,
ELMONT, N.Y. – Welcome to the *** Crown.
In the era of COVID-19, where everyday life everywhere has been impacted, Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown series certainly has a different look. Two weeks after the Triple Crown would have concluded with the Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles, the series kicks off Saturday with the $1 million Belmont now at a shortened 1 1/8 miles. Instead of being the last leg of a five-week sprint, it’s the first leg of a 15-week marathon with the Kentucky Derby rescheduled for Sept. 5 and the Preakness four weeks later on Oct. 3.
The Belmont will be run in front of an empty Belmont Park grandstand. No fans or owners will be permitted to attend, part of the protocols put in place by state government and health officials to allow New York racing to resume earlier this month after an 80-day shutdown.
“I don’t think there’s any question that at the end of 2020 you can put a big asterisk by the whole year and the Triple Crown is certainly part of that,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who has two horses in the Belmont. “It’s not going to be the same, it’s going to be spread out over a much different time frame, different distances, different order. It goes without saying it’s a non-traditional Triple Crown series. I don’t think it would take away from the accomplishment of a single horse if they were able to win one, two, or three legs of it. These are still very difficult races to win.”
In 2003, the New York-bred Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness but could not complete the Triple Crown and finished third in the Belmont. The same connections of that gelding, the Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay
Tagg, are back with Tiz the Law, a dual Grade 1 winner who will be heavily favored in a field of 10 to win Saturday’s Belmont.
Mark Casse, the trainer of Belmont contender Tap It to Win, says simply of Tiz the Law, “I think if you beat him you win.”
It’s hard to argue the point. Tiz the Law is a Grade 1 winner at Belmont, having taken in the Champagne by four lengths last fall. In two starts this year, both at Gulfstream Park, Tiz the Law dominated the Grade 3 Holy Bull off an eight-week layoff and the Grade 1 Florida Derby off a nineweek layoff. He would have been ready to run back if the
Kentucky Derby had been May 2 as scheduled. The delay does not seem to have impacted him, though Tagg is looking forward to finally being able to run him.
“He’s feeling really good, he’s sharp as heck,” Tagg said Thursday following Tiz the Law’s training session.
Perhaps the most drama Tiz the Law experienced this week was Thursday, when a horse got loose and ran free while Tiz the Law was on the track. An outrider corralled the loose horse before he got near Tiz the Law, who proceeded to gallop 1 1/2 miles and visit the starting gate without issue.
The race could set up well for Tiz the Law, who breaks from post 8 under Manny Franco, who is riding his first Belmont.
Tiz the Law likes to come from two or three lengths off the pace, and there appears to be speed with Tap It to Win, who has the rail, and Fore Left, who will break from post 6. Tap It to Win is coming back just 16 days off a career-best effort, but Casse, who won the Belmont last year with Sir Winston, has had success running horses back on short rest.
John Velazquez will ride Tap It to Win, who, it would seem will be sent to the lead from his rail draw.
“If we get the same performance out of him again as we did two weeks ago, he may not win, but you’ll know he’s there,” Casse said.
While Tap It to Win is coming back in just 16 days, Sole Volante is running in the Belmont 10 days after winning a one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream. Having not run since a secondplace finish in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7, his connections felt that race would bring him more forward than simply training up to the race.
“He wasn’t at peak fitness
going into that allowance, he needed that race to bring him into form and he’s fresh and happy,” said Andie Biancone, part-owner of Sole Volante and assistant trainer to her father, Patrick Biancone. “We did a little open gallop on Monday; if it was easy for him we would go, if it wasn’t we would take the extra time and go to the Blue Grass. But he was so well you couldn’t not send him.”
Luca Panici rides Sole Volante from post 2.
Pletcher, a three-time Belmont winner, has two contenders in Dr Post and Farmington Road. After a setback following his debut last summer, Dr Post has come back with a maiden victory and a win in the Unbridled Stakes, both at Gulfstream Park. In the Unbridled, Dr Post got bounced around a bit but still managed to win after getting clear.
Pletcher believes Dr Post has the talent to win the Belmont, it’s just a matter of whether “he’s seasoned enough and mentally prepared enough” to beat a “quality horse like Tiz the Law,” he said.
Farmington Road has just one win in six starts, but his late-running style could make him an upset candidate if the pace is swift enough and Tiz the Law fails to fire. Javier Castellano rides Farmington Road from post 5.
Max Player is coming off a 140-day layoff since he won the Grade 3 Withers on Feb. 1 at Aqueduct. Trainer Linda Rice had considered the Arkansas Derby on May 2 and the Matt Winn on May 23 for Max Player, but ultimately decided not to ship out of town and wait for the Belmont.
“Nobody wants to come into the Triple Crown off a five-month layoff, but he’s trained well, we kept him at home, I’m happy with the way he’s matured,” said Rice, who could become the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race. “I think it’s just a matter of whether he’s good enough.”
Fore Left comes off a similar layoff as Max Player, having not run since winning the one-mile UAE 2000 Guineas at Meydan in February. He was rerouted from the seven-furlong Woody Stephens to the Belmont by owner Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill.
Modernist won the Grade 2 Risen Star before finishing third in the Louisiana Derby. Trainer Bill Mott and owner Marty Wygod were considering next week’s
Ohio Derby before Modernist turned in a strong workout here Sunday.
Pneumatic, trained by Steve Asmussen, is similar to Dr Post in that he’s a lightly raced horse with a lot of upside. He is coming off a third-place finish to Maxfield in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes.
Asmussen also sends out Jungle Runner, a horse who on paper seems overmatched.
The Belmont will go as race 10 of 12 on a card that begins at 11:45 a.m. NBC will be on air from 2:45 to 6 p.m. Eastern with the Belmont scheduled for 5:42 p.m.
The top four finishers from the Belmont earn qualifying points (150-60-30-15) to the Kentucky Derby.
According to weather.com, Saturday’s forecast calls for a high near 80 with a 20 percent chance of showers or a thunderstorm.