Tiz the Law scores overwhelming Travers victory; goes to Kentucky Derby as favorite
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Approaching the three-furlong pole of Saturday’s Grade 1 Runhappy Travers Stakes, Tiz the Law, the clear leader of the 3-year-old division, sidled up alongside the pacesetting Uncle Chuck, an apparent top-ranked contender, and the stage was set for a stirring stretch battle before an empty Saratoga grandstand.
The fight didn’t last long.
Tiz the Law just cruised by Uncle Chuck, and when jockey Manny Franco shook the reins at Tiz the Law turning for home, the New York-bred colt opened up with authority and cruised to a 5 1/2-length victory in the 151st Travers Stakes as the 1-2 favorite.
Caracaro, an 11-1 shot, finished second by two lengths over Max Player. South Bend was fourth, followed by Country Grammer, Uncle Chuck, and Shivaree. First Line scratched.
Unlike past years, when a crowd of 50,000-plus might have crammed itself into this historic venue, fans were not permitted on the grounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic that also made the Travers -- typically called the Mid-Summer Derby -- a prep race for the rescheduled Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.
“I wish there were 50,000-plus here today to see this performance live,” said Jack Knowlton, managing partner of Sackatoga Stable, which owns Tiz the Law.
The victory not only was the fourth in as many Grade 1 starts for Tiz the Law -- and his third consecutive Grade 1 -- it will send him to Churchill Downs as the undisputed favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
Tiz the Law, a son of Constitution, is campaigned by the same connections -- Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg -- that won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with Funny Cide. They missed their opportunity to run in the Travers when Funny Cide got sick after being entered.
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“We’re getting redemption 17 years later,” Knowlton said. “Tiz won the Belmont and now he’s won the Travers. It’s quite an accomplishment for our little stable of New York-breds, for Barclay Tagg to win really the biggest races in New York. We’re just thrilled to death.”
Said Tagg: “I’ve been doing this a long time now and I’ve always wanted to win the Travers. The Travers was something that’s been in my head my whole life. I don’t know why. Now it happened so it couldn’t be better.”
Tiz the Law’s performance in the Travers couldn’t have been better.
Under Franco, Tiz the Law took up a three-wide stalking position, about 1 1/2 lengths off Uncle Chuck, who, under Luis Saez, set fractions of 23.65 for the quarter, 48.36 for the half, and 1:11.95 for six furlongs.
“At the half-mile I thought we were going to get away from him, but he was in cruise [control],” Saez said. “We couldn’t take off."
Franco said he knew he had Uncle Chuck whenever he wanted him. He started to worry about someone rallying from behind. But when Franco asked his horse to run turning for home, the acceleration that Tiz the Law provided “gave me chills,” Franco said.
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Franco took Tiz the Law in hand at the sixteenth pole. Still, Tiz the Law, who returned $3 as the 1-2 favorite, ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.95, making this, at worst, the fifth-fastest Travers ever run. Arrogate (1:59.36), General Assembly (2:00), and Honest Pleasure (2:00.20) definitely ran faster. In 1989, Easy Goer ran the distance in 2:00 4/5 when hundredths were not recorded. Ironically, Tiz the Law ran slightly faster than did Thunder Rumble (2:00.99), the last New York-bred to win the Travers in 1992.
“It’s the way I thought he was going to be all along, but I was still impressed,” Tagg said. “I thought he’d have to come to Uncle Chuck once he came into the stretch, then go on by him if he could. But it all went so easy with him which is fine with me, too. The easier the better.”
Javier Castellano, the rider of Caracaro, said he got excited for a moment as he approached the quarter pole. That excitement quickly waned.
“I got excited and at the same time he disappeared,” Castellano said. “He took off. I think that’s a great horse.”
The top four finishers in the Travers earned qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby under the system Churchill Downs uses should more than 20 horses enter the race. By virtue of his second-place finish, Caracaro earned 40 points. He now has 60 and will point to the Kentucky Derby, according to trainer Gustavo Delgado. Max Player, third to Tiz the Law in the Belmont, also has 60 points and is expected to move on to the Derby.
Tiz the Law added the Travers to earlier victories this year in the Belmont Stakes -- shortened to 1 1/8 miles from 1 1/2 miles due to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on racing -- the Grade 1 Florida Derby, and the Grade 3 Holy Bull.
Overall, Tiz the Law is 6 for 7 with his lone loss coming in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club over a sloppy Churchill Downs surface last Nov. 30.
* All-sources handle on Saturday’s 12-race Travers Day card was $39,464,558. In 2019, the 13-race Travers card on Aug. 25 handled $52,129,344 which included $7,625,767 of on-track handle from an announced crowd of 48,124.