Tagg feeling good about Tiz the Law's chances in Belmont Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – The defections of undefeated Grade 1 winners Charlatan and Maxfield from the June 20 Belmont Stakes had little impact on trainer Barclay Tagg, trainer of two-time Grade 1 winner and now incontrovertible Belmont Stakes favorite Tiz the Law.

“I don’t want to sound like an idiot, but I wasn’t too worried anyway,” Tagg said Monday morning at Belmont Park. “Maybe I should have been. I’ve been around a long time. I’ve been doing this for 50 years, you don’t want to take anything for granted, but I just felt so good about the colt I kept my attention on him and didn’t worry about anybody else.”

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Already a multiple Grade 1 winner, Tiz the Law gave Tagg more to feel good about Monday with a flawless five-furlong work in 1:00.53 over Belmont’s main track. Working by himself with regular jockey Manny Franco up, Tiz the Law went in splits of 12.43 seconds, 24.43, 36.21, and got his last quarter in 24.32.

Assistant trainer Robin Smullen, via two-way radio, asked Franco to continue on through the wire, and Tiz the Law went out six furlongs in 1:12.86, seven furlongs in 1:25.38, and a mile in 1:41.00.

“He was going a little too fast maybe, but Robin was on the [radio] with him and told Manny to take a hold of him and he did, but he galloped out strong,” Tagg said. “I was down there with the pony to pick him up, and he pulled up fine. He floated across in front of me nice and sound, healthy and happy.”

For Franco, it was his first time aboard Tiz the Law since March 28 when he won the Grade 1 Florida Derby by 4 1/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park.

“He was happy, comfortable out there, he did all by himself,” Franco said. “I’m very confident right now. I think the horse is growing up a lot. He’s ready to run.”

Due to the COVID-19-pandemic, the Belmont has been pushed back to June 20 and shortened to 1 1/8 miles. The race will be 12 weeks since his last start, but Tiz the Law has won at first asking and off layoffs of eight and nine weeks.

“I don’t know if that makes him run better or not; it all happened that way,” Tagg said. “The pandemic and all that stuff, there was nothing you could do about that stuff except pile one race on top of the other, and I didn’t want to do that.”

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Tiz the Law, who won the Grade 1 Champagne here last fall, will be a strong favorite in the Belmont, which in a span of 48 hours lost Charlatan, undefeated winner of a division of the Arkansas Derby, to injury, and Maxfield, an undefeated Grade 1 winner who is pointing to the Blue Grass Stakes on July 11.

Those considered definite to run in the Belmont are Dr Post (Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride), Farmington Road (Javier Castellano), and Gouverneur Morris (TBD) – all from the barn of Todd Pletcher – and Max Player (Dylan Davis) and Tap It to Win (John Velazquez). Sole Volante (Luca Panici) and Shivaree (Emisael Jaramillo) are entered in a Wednesday allowance race at Gulfstream, and they could wheel back in the Belmont.

Trainer Mark Casse said Monday “all systems are go” for Tap It to Win to run back in the Belmont following his five-length allowance win June 4. Velazquez, aboard for that race, will retain that mount, according to agent Ron Anderson.

Trainer Steve Asmussen is mulling a Belmont start for Basin, Pneumatic, or both. Modernist also is under consideration for the race.