Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Tiz the Law looks sharp in Pegasus World Cup work
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational is still more than a month away, but Tiz the Law is giving every indication he’s ready and raring to go right now after breezing six furlongs in 1:11.60 per Daily Racing Form clocker Donald Harris on Wednesday morning at Palm Meadows.
With regular work rider Heather Smullen aboard, Tiz the Law posted splits of 25.00 seconds and 48.00 for the opening half-mile before galloping out a full mile in a razor-sharp 1:37.60.
“He seems real happy with himself now,” Smullen said. “I never really asked him. I just smooched a few times at the wire so he kept going.”
The work was the fourth for Tiz the Law since returning to South Florida for the winter following his disappointing sixth-place finish as the tepid 3-1 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“He worked nicely, he never slowed down, he just kept on rolling right around there,” trainer Barclay Tagg said. “I guess you could say it’s his best work since he’s been down here. But he’s such an honest horse, he pretty much does what you ask of him all the time in the morning.”
Tagg said he’d keep Tiz the Law on a similar work schedule as he’s been on over the past month with no plans to bring him down to Gulfstream Park to get a work in over the track prior to the Pegasus World Cup. Tiz the Law has already shown his fondness for the Gulfstream strip, having won both the Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby in impressive fashion there earlier this year.
“I don’t think I need to bring him down, we know he likes the track,” Tagg said. “Sometimes you can just overdo that stuff.
“There’s really no magic to it, other than maybe having to vary our work schedule for the weather a little bit. There’s no sense changing things now.”
Tagg said he was inclined to just draw a line through Tiz the Law’s effort in the Breeders’ Cup after his horse got pinned down along the rail and shuffled back a bit during the early stages of the race.
“What happened, happened that day, there’s no sense worrying about it now. Naturally, I have high expectations for him for the upcoming season. I have to, don’t I? He’s the best I’ve got,” Tagg said with a chuckle.
Tagg is coming off a big weekend after sending out the New York-bred Niko’s Dream to upset the My Charmer and Doswell to finish second, also at a big price, in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale here last Saturday.
Doswell, a Giant’s Causeway homebred owned by Joseph Allen, earned a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure for his effort in the Fort Lauderdale while benefitting from a ground-saving ride by Junior Alvarado.
“I just hoped he’d run like he’d been running for us and that’s what he did, so I can’t say I was surprised by his effort,” Tagg said. “He’ll probably run next in the Pegasus Turf” – on Jan. 23. “Mr. Allen is all excited to do that and off this race. I see no reason why not.”
Niko’s Dream became a stakes winner for the first time in the My Charmer while also posting her top number, an 89, from a Beyer standpoint for her effort in the My Charmer.
“I don’t have any plans for her yet,” Tagg said. “She’s a New York-bred, so we won’t burn her up down here this winter. Maybe run her once or twice more before taking her back to New York next spring.”
Brown import seeks U.S. win
Friday’s main event at Gulfstream Park brings together a very competitive field of older filly and mare turf specialists to go one mile on the grass under second-level allowance conditions.
Stone Tornado, Group 3-placed in Italy but winless in four starts since coming to the United States and joining trainer Chad Brown’s barn last spring, may be the tepid choice. She makes her local debut under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. She’s been a beaten favorite in all four of her previous starts in this country.
Sister Hanan returns locally for the first time since rallying from well back to finish third in the Grade 3 Honey Fox here last February. She has run just once in the interim, winning an entry-level allowance race over the Churchill Downs turf course on May 24.
A lack of any real pace in the field may provide an advantage for Golden Curl, who could prove the controlling speed under jockey Julien Leparoux. Golden Curl returns to the turf for the first time since also capturing a first-level allowance event at Churchill Downs three months earlier.