Barclay Tagg

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution), a looming prohibitive favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, recorded his second-to-last breeze before the Sept. 5 Run for the Roses when covering five furlongs in a bullet :59.47 (1/39) over the Saratoga main track Sunday morning. The Barclay Tagg trainee was scheduled to breeze Saturday at the Spa, but had his work pushed back a day after a sudden downpour drastically changed the track conditions. Working under cover of darkness at 5:30 a.m. Sunday under exercise rider Heather Smullen, Tiz the Law clicked...

Sackatoga Stable's GI Runhappy Travers S. winner Tiz the Law (Constitution) was bright-eyed the morning after his dominant 5 1/2-length victory in Saratoga's marquee race, for which he received a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure. Shortly after training concluded for the morning, trainer Barclay Tagg was at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch standing next to the garland of carnations that had been draped around the now four-time Grade I winner's neck Saturday. Tagg said his star 3-year-old colt was in good order. "He looks fine," Tagg told the NYRA...

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution) continued his unconventional path to Louisville in this upside down year with a jaw-dropping, geared-down 5 1/2-length victory in Saturday's GI Runhappy Travers S. at a spectator-free Saratoga. 'TDN Rising Star' Caracaro (Uncle Mo) was second; Max Player (Honor Code) finished third. "I've been doing this a long time and I've always wanted to win the Travers," winning trainer Barclay Tagg said. "This has been in my head my whole life. And now it happened so it couldn't be better. You always have some...

Following a resounding victory in the GI Belmont S., Sackatoga Stable and Barclay Tagg could have easily put their star pupil Tiz the Law (Constitution) in bubble wrap and waited for a run in the rescheduled GI Kentucky Derby. After all, only in this strange year could a team of connections have the benefit of 11 weeks of rest in between the first and second legs of the Triple Crown. Instead, the once-beaten New York-bred star will line up as a heavy favorite in Saturday's GI Runhappy Travers S. at...

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution) tuned up for next Saturday's GI Runhappy Travers S. with a five-furlong work in :59.44 (2/24) at Saratoga Saturday. "I wanted to go in a minute and he went in a minute. It was perfect," trainer Barclay Tagg said of the work. "We couldn't have worked better. He came back good and he was breathing good. Everything was good. He's a gem to work with. He is doing perfectly as far as I'm concerned. I don't know what else we can do for him....

Sackatoga Stable's GI Belmont S. winner Tiz the Law (Constitution) breezed five-eighths in 1:00.48 (2/16) Saturday morning on the Saratoga Race Course main track in preparation for the $1-million GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 8. The three-time Grade I winner recorded splits of :24.20 and :36.00 before galloping out in 1:13.80 with exercise rider Heather Smullen aboard. "He does exactly what you tell him to do," Smullen said. "It was a little different this week just because there was some traffic right off the rail and last week there was...

Leading sophomore Tiz the Law (Constitution) turned in his first published breeze since shipping to Saratoga Saturday morning as he eyes the Spa's GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 8. Working solo around 8:45 a.m. under exercise rider Heather Smullen, the GI Belmont S. hero was clocked in :59.63 with internal splits of :24.40 and :35.60 and a six-furlong gallop-out in 1:12.84. Click for XBTV video. "I thought the work was good," said trainer Barclay Tagg. "He did it just right. The time was good. Everything was good." Tiz the Law...

Tiz the Law (Constitution) continued his preparations for the $1-million GI Runhappy Travers S. Wednesday morning, working five furlongs in a solid 1:01.10 over a Belmont main track labeled as fast. It was the New York-bred's second breeze since winning the GI Belmont S. June 20. He went a maintenance half-mile in :50.06 July 1. "He looked perfect," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "He's got a lot of energy. He wouldn't blow out a candle." Tiz the Law is perfect in three starts this season, having won the GIII Holy Bull...

GI Belmont S. winner Tiz the Law (Constitution--Tizfiz, by Tiznow) will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud upon his retirement, but will continue to race for owners Sackatoga Stable throughout his racing career, Coolmore announced Thursday morning. The colt, by the current leading second-crop sire Constitution, has won five of his six lifetime starts, including his impressive classic win last Saturday. "Tiz the Law is the outstanding colt of his generation so we are obviously delighted he'll be coming here," said Coolmore America manager Dermot Ryan. "From day one when...

Since the last TDN Kentucky Oaks Top 10, Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) won the GII Santa Anita Oaks and Gamine (Into Mischief) dominated in the GI Acorn S. Two very good fillies, they have moved to the head of the class and no one else comes close. A Swiss Skydiver-Gamine showdown in the GI Kentucky Oaks would make it one of the best races of the year. With more than two months left before the Oaks, most in the group will have at least one more prep. The GI Ashland July...

We're barely halfway through, but 2020 is already destined to go down as the year reality and normalcy got bent so far out of shape that our sport became unrecognizable. Race meets nationwide have been canceled or curtailed. The Triple Crown races have been shifted out of order with one radical distance alteration. Jockeys soar through homestretches wearing protective masks as a pandemic precaution in front of eerily empty grandstands, where fans have been ordered to stay away for everyone's own good. We hear repeatedly how everyone in the industry...

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law (Constitution) exited his win in Saturday's GI Belmont S. in fine shape and will now be pointed towards the Aug. 8 GI Runhappy Travers S. "He came out of the race great," said Robin Smullen, assistant to trainer Barclay Tagg. "He ate up and then he came out and grazed for an hour. His legs are good, his attitude and energy are good." Mapping out the next few days for the Belmont winner, Tagg said, "He'll walk for three days and we'll graze him every...