Can’t say I was especially tempted to try and beat heavily favored TIZ THE LAW. Five weeks ago, I’d have taken HONOR A. P. to win, and with Art Collector still in the mix, Honor A. P.’s price might really have held appeal. Then Honor A. P. ran in the Shared Belief, and Tiz the Law ran in the Runhappy Travers, two roads diverging, leaving me on the one more traveled.
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DRF Past Performances
TIZ THE LAW was always going to be the shortest price in the 2020 Kentucky Derby following four straight major wins as a 3-year-old, including commanding victories in the Belmont Stakes and the Travers. But the late defections of talented rivals Caracaro and Art Collector, two colts possessing similar forward running styles, help the favorite more than anyone else in this field.
There is certainly never any percentage in backing odds-on favorites in 18-horse fields as will be the case with TIZ THE LAW in this year’s Kentucky Derby. But after watching up close and personal his body of work throughout this crazy 3-year-old campaign and the manner in which he has continued to flourish in the weeks since his eye-popping effort in the Runhappy Travers, it’s hard to side against the clear-cut leader of the division. Tiz the Law appears only to need a clean run to assert his dominance once again.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Linda Rice said she will have mixed emotions Saturday watching the Kentucky Derby on television from Saratoga. She would much rather be in Louisville, putting the saddle on Max Player in what would have been her first Kentucky Derby.
But following Max Player’s third-place finish to Tiz the Law in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 8, owners George Hall and the SportBLX Thoroughbreds syndicate transferred the horse to Steve Amsussen, saying publicly they wanted a locally based trainer to prepare the horse for the Derby.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No, your eyes did not deceive you – that was a colt galloping in a D. Wayne Lukas saddle towel during the reserved training window for Kentucky Derby entrants.
Hall of Fame trainer Lukas, who has started 49 horses in the Kentucky Derby and won the classic four times, is squiring around Money Moves this week for his former assistant Todd Pletcher, the only trainer who has started more horses in the race than his mentor, with 54.
Kentucky Derby entrant King Guillermo did not train Thursday morning at Churchill Downs and, in a developing story, trainer Juan Carlos Avila said the colt has "a little problem."
Avila declined to elaborate on the nature of the issue, but indicated that the colt would be thoroughly examined by a veterinarian that day, and that more information on his status would be forthcoming later Thursday.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Will Harbut Racing LLC, is one of the three owners of Kentucky Derby entrant Necker Island. Will Harbut’s name is familiar to students of racing history – he cared for the legendary Man o’ War in his stallion career in Kentucky for more than 16 years. The man behind Will Harbut Racing is the groom’s great-grandson, Greg Harbut, a bloodstock agent who named the operation for his family’s deep ties to racing, which are especially poignant in this year of racial unrest.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – For the first time in more than two decades, Angel Cordero Jr. won’t be rooting for his protégé John Velazquez to win the Kentucky Derby.
Arguably the most accomplished agent-jockey tandem in racing history, Cordero and Velazquez split up earlier this year after 22 years together. Cordero believes the split came at least in part because he fought hard for the connections of Tiz the Law to keep his other client, Manny Franco, on the horse when other riders were inquiring about replacing him following the horse’s only loss last fall.
John Shirreffs trained Zenyatta throughout her Hall of Fame career and can’t wait to see her soon, but the demands of the Kentucky Derby will mean the next visit will come later this month, when he returns for the yearling sales. This week, he’s sticking to Churchill Downs like Calvin Borel sticks to the rail.
“It’s hard to leave. You never know when something unforeseen could develop,” said Shirreffs, who trains Honor A. P.