Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Tiz the Law has first work since Kentucky Derby
ELMONT, N.Y. – Tiz the Law, a three-time Grade 1 winner this year at 3, worked a halfmile in 50.07 seconds Friday morning over the Belmont Park main track, his first work since his runner-up finish to Authentic in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.
Tiz the Law, under exercise rider Heather Smullen, worked shortly after the track reopened following the mid-morning renovation break. After leaving the pony, Tiz the Law was galloping near the outside fence before Smullen gradually guided him over to the inside rail. Tiz the Law left the half-mile pole slowly and went his first eighth in 14.04 before picking it up around the turn, completing his opening quarter in 26.21.
In the lane, Smullen didn’t ask for anything from Tiz the Law, who got his last quarter in 23.86 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.53.
The work, likely the first of six Tiz the Law will have leading up to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland, was an indication that Tiz the Law is making progress but is still not quite where he was prior to the Kentucky Derby.
“It was just his first work back,” trainer Barclay Tagg said. “It was a little slower than I wanted to go, but doesn’t make any difference. I just wanted him to stretch his legs a little bit.”
Tiz the Law won the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in March, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes (shortened this year to 1 1/8 miles) in June, and the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga in August. He was sent off the 3-5 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, but was upset by Authentic, finishing second to him by 1 1/4 lengths.
Tiz the Law came out of the race a little stiff and was not training like himself for about two weeks after the Derby. Tagg announced Monday that Tiz the Law would skip the Preakness Stakes on Oct. 3 to concentrate on the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“Taking it easy for a few weeks was great for him,” Tagg said.
Tagg said he opted to work Tiz the Law on Friday because he felt the track was in good shape and the weather was good.
“If you want to breeze him once a week, if something goes wrong you have a day to play with,” Tagg said.
Tiz the Law will likely have a five-furlong workout by himself next week before having a few in-company works after that, assistant trainer Robin Smullen said.
The plan is to ship Tiz the Law to Kentucky in time to get at least one workout over Keeneland’s main track before the Classic.
Mystic Guide to Gold Cup
Mystic Guide, winner of the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 5, will most likely bypass Saturday’s Preakness
Stakes and make his next start in the Grade 1, $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 10, trainer Mike Stidham said Friday.
“Right now, I’d say we’re leaning strongly toward the Jockey Club,” Stidham said. “Reason being a little more distance we think is going to help the horse. I don’t think Pimlico necessarily suits my horse’s style. I think he’s better on a track like Belmont. The big, sweeping turns I just think is a better fit for him.”
The Jockey Club Gold Cup is run at 1 1/4 miles, while the Preakness is 1 3/16 miles.
In his only start at Belmont, Mystic Guide finished second behind Tap It to Win in a 1 1/16mile allowance race run in a very fast 1:39.76. Since then, Mystic Gide has finished third in the Peter Pan and won the Jim Dandy with blinkers added.
The Jockey Club Gold Cup is not expected to draw a large field. Among the older horses pointing to it are Tacitus, the Grade 2 Suburban winner and Grade 1 Woodward runner-up, and Prioritize, the third-place finisher in the Woodward.
Next Saturday, Stidham is planning to run Pixelate in the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational for 3-yearolds at 1 1/4 miles on turf. Pixelate is coming off a head victory in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 6.
The Belmont Derby is likely to draw a large field that also could include Ajourneytofreedom, City Man, Domestic Spending, Farmington Road, Gufo, Moon Over Miami, No Word, South Bend, and Venezuelan Hug.
The Belmont Derby offers a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
Letruska works for Beldame
Letruska, who won the Grade 3 Shuvee at Saratoga, worked five furlongs in 59.67 seconds Friday morning over Belmont Park’s main track in preparation for a start in the Grade 2, $150,000 Beldame Stakes on Oct. 4.
It was Letruska’s second work at Belmont since the Shuvee. Trainer Fausto Gutierrez liked what he saw and said he the likes the one-turn 1 1/8-mile configuration of the Beldame.
Prior to running Letruska in the Shuvee, a two-turn 1 1/8-mile race, Gutierrez tried her in the Grade 1 Ballerina at seven furlongs. The pace was exquisitely fast that day and Letruska could not keep up, finishing fifth of seven. She was able to get away with a slower pace in the Shuvee, which she won on the front end.
“I don’t think she’s a speed horse that can run seven furlongs like that,” said Gutierrez, referring to the 43.74second half-mile fraction of the Ballerina. “She has speed, but she needs distance.”
Others pointing to the Beldame include Dunbar Road, Horologist, Nonna Madeline, and Point of Honor.