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. I like this colt. Why wouldn't you? We've got a nice horse.”
Sent out at 5:30 a.m., Tiz the Law recorded splits of :23 4/5, :36 and out in 1:13 2/5 over a fast main track with exercise rider Heather Smullen aboard.
“He's a little more relaxed in the morning,” said Smullen. “He's nice and professional and does his job. There is always adversity. If he sees someone, he will get strong. He will get aggressive. He's a racehorse. Luckily, there was no one out there today. He went out there today and did what I told him to do. He was strong and consistent. It sure seems like [he's ready for the Travers]. He's done everything they have asked him to do.”
Tiz the Law has won all three of his starts this season, opening his sophomore campaign with a win in the Feb. 1 GIII Holy Bull S. before adding the Mar. 28 GI Curlin Florida Derby. He is coming off a win in the June 20 GI Belmont S.
Sackatoga Stable will be seeking its second GI Kentucky Derby win next month at Churchill Downs. The operation, headed by Jack Knowlton, won the 2003 Derby with Funny Cide.
“I want to enjoy the next week because it is going to be a lot of fun,” Knowlton said. “We will get to do a lot of things and we will enjoy the moment at Saratoga. Hopefully, everything will work out. We've got four weeks to hopefully win another Derby.
Knowlton continued, “It's exciting [to be here for the Travers]. My second biggest disappointment with the whole Funny Cide run was not being able to even run in the Travers. When he got sick, that was a bigger disappointment after not winning the Triple Crown. Now, we've got a second chance. It's not often you get second chances the way we have with this horse and to do things that we couldn't do. We checked one box by winning the Belmont. It would be wonderful to check this box to win the Travers. I have a lot of confidence that he's going to get the mile and a quarter.”
Travers contenders Country Grammer (Tonalist), Shivaree (Awesome of Course) and Caracaro (Uncle Mo) also breezed over the main track at Saratoga Saturday, while possible Travers entrant Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) breezed at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Maryland.
Paul Pompa, Jr.'s Country Grammer worked four furlongs in :47.66 (6/50) for trainer Chad Brown. The bay colt is coming off a win in the July 16 GIII Peter Pan S.
Jacks or Better Farm's Shivaree, trained by Ralph Nicks, went five furlongs in 1:03.27 (24/24). The chestnut homebred was second in the Florida Derby and is coming off an 11th-place effort in the July 11 GII Toyota Blue Grass S.
“It looked like he went well. He's a tough horse and he handles everything fine,” said Nicks. “He handled shipping up there fine. He seems to be in good form. It was a nice maintenance breeze on the bridle, just kind of cruising around there this morning, so all is well. We decided last week to take a shot, and everything's good.”
Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing's Peter Pan runner-up Caracaro, trained by Gustavo Delgado, worked six furlongs under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano in 1:15.99 (1/1) Saturday.
A maiden winner second time out at Gulfstream Park in January, the bay colt was making just his third lifetime start in the Peter Pan.
“He's a good mover. Today, it wasn't about looking for time, it was more like a two-minute lick starting from the three-quarters and letting him gallop out,” said Castellano. “He just ran three weeks ago, so today was a good maintenance work. He galloped out beautiful past the wire, but I didn't let him overdo it. He handled the track well. He did everything the right way today.”
Godolphin homebred Mystic Guide, a late-running third in the Peter Pan for trainer Mike Stidham, added blinkers for his five-eighths work in 1:01 flat (1/5) Saturday at Fair Hill.
“We felt like he was a little more handy with the blinkers on,” said Stidham. “He broke off three lengths behind another horse. We told the rider to stay even with the other horse down to the wire and he galloped out well. He went out in :13 and change. I was very happy with the addition of blinkers.”
Stidham said he is considering the colt for either the Travers or the Sept. 5 GII Jim Dandy S.
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