Tiz the Law towers over Belmont
With only a single G1 and G2 winner each in the field, this year’s Belmont Stakes – shortened to 1 1/8 miles from its usual mile and a half – appears to be coming up light. On the other hand, if Tiz the Law runs close to the form he showed in his three graded-stakes victories, two of them G1s, it may not matter who else is in the race.
The New York-bred son of Constitution enters the Belmont off an impressive, open-lengths Florida Derby score on March 28, a race he won in an off-thepace style similar to his his earlier victories in the Holy Bull Stakes and last fall’s Champagne. In all three races, Tiz the Law made his move late on the turn or in upper stretch and was drawing off at the wire.
Tiz the Law will face a somewhat stronger field in the Belmont than he faced in his three stakes victories. Max Player, Sole Volante and Modernist all won graded Triple Crown preps at longer than a mile, with Max Player’s 3¼-length margin in the Withers the most decisive. The son of Honor Code is unraced since.
Sole Volante and Modernist recorded their graded wins in the Sam F. Davis Stakes and Risen Star, respectively, but both colts were beaten in subsequent graded tries. Sole Volante was bested by nearly five lengths by King Guillermo in the Tampa Bay Derby, while Modernist finished a similar distance behind Wells Bayou while finishing third in the Louisiana Derby.
Dr Post, Pneumatic, Tap It to Win, Fore Left, Jungle Runner and maiden winner Farmington