Tiz the Law is favorite in Belmont
It wasn’t quite the post position trainer Barclay Tagg wanted for Tiz the Law. Still, it wasn’t far off for the colt who on Wednesday was made the early 6-5 favorite for the Belmont Stakes.
Tagg, 82, was hoping the Florida Derby winner would land anywhere between spots 5 to 7 in the starting gate for Saturday’s beginning of the reconfigured Triple Crown series. Tiz the Law drew the No. 8 post in the 10-horse field and will be ridden by Manny Franco.
“It could have been worse,” Tagg said from behind a mask worn to protect against the coronavirus pandemic that has upended the Triple Crown and pretty much every other sporting event this spring and summer. “He likes this track, so I’m glad to be back on it.”
Instead of concluding the Triple Crown, the Belmont is kicking off the series. It will be run at 11⁄8miles – shorter than its usual grueling 1 1⁄2 miles – without spectators or owners at Belmont Park in New York.
“It’s going to be a far different scene for sure,” trainer Todd Pletcher, who has two entries, said this week. “It’s sad in some ways, but we’re grateful we’re getting an opportunity to run.”
Sole Volante is the 9-2 second choice. Dr Post is the 5-1 third choice, and Tap It to Win is the 6-1 fourth choice. Pneumatic at 8-1 is the only other horse listed at single-digit odds. Five others are 15-1 or higher.
Linda Rice will try to become the first woman to train a Belmont winner in the race’s 152-year history when she saddles 15-1 shot Max Player.
The field in post-position order with jockey and odds: Tap It to Win, John Velazquez, 6-1; Sole Volante, Luca Panici, 9-2; Max Player, Joel Rosario, 15-1; Modernist, Junior Alvarado, 15-1; Farmington Road, Javier Castellano, 15-1; Fore Left, Jose Ortiz, 30-1; Jungle Runner, Reylu Gutierrez, 50-1; Tiz the Law, Franco, 6-5; Dr Post 15-1, Irad Ortiz Jr., 5-1; Pneumatic, Ricardo Santana, 8-1.