Buetane Colt by Tiz the Law – Taboo, by Forestry Bred in Kentucky by Merriebelle Stable ($150,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling purchase by Tom McCrocklin; $1.15 million Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring 2-year-old in training purchase by Donato Lanni, agent for Zedan Stables)   This weekend’s lone Kentucky Derby points race is the Virginia Derby. The morning-line favorite is multiple graded stakes-placed Buetane, a seven-figure juvenile last year by a rising young sire and from a female family that has knocked on the door in the classics. Tiz the Law won the Grade 1 Champagne at a one-turn mile at 2. In his pandemic-shuffled 3-year-old season of 2020 he won the Grade 1 Florida Derby and Belmont Stakes, both at 1 1/8 miles; added a Grade 1 in the 1 1/4-mile Travers, and finished second in September’s Kentucky Derby. Tiz the Law’s first foals hit the track in 2024 and have performed well on both dirt and turf, at both sprint and two-turn distances. Tiztastic won last year’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at 1 3/16 miles en route to a 10th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. :: DRF Road to the Derby Package Available Now! Save 37% on key handicapping essentials through Kentucky Derby day. To cap off the season, Tiz the Law recorded his first Grade 1 winner in the waning days of 2025 when Usha won the La Brea at seven furlongs. The stallion also has the two-turn dirt-performing fillies Fully Subscribed, who won the Grade 2 Mother Goose and Grade 3 Comely, both at 1 1/8 miles, and Non Compliant, winner of the Grade 2 Oak Leaf at 1 1/16 miles. He also is the sire, in the United States, of turf graded stakes winners Dandona, Scythian, Silent Law, and Tiz Dashing. Taboo, who got her only win at five furlongs, is the dam of eight winners from 11 starters, and they have appeared to have a distance ceiling. Her son Let My People Go won the Karl Boyes Memorial at six furlongs on synthetic. Along with Buetane, Taboo has two other stakes-placed runners – Der Lu, second by a nose in the Grade 3 La Canada at 1 1/16 miles, and Smartly Agree, second in the seven-furlong Azalea. More stamina comes into this family from Taboo’s dam, millionaire Dream of Summer, winner of the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at 1 1/16 miles. She produced Grade 1-winning juvenile Creative Cause and Destin, a multiple Grade 2 winner at up to 1 3/4 miles. Both were classic-placed, with Creative Cause third in the 2012 Preakness and Destin a close second in the 2016 Belmont. Dream of Summer also produced Grade 1 Personal Ensign winner Vexatious. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2026: Top contenders, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more