Tiz the Law Starts Anew in Holy Bull

The last time Sackatoga Stable and Barclay Tagg were on the GI Kentucky Derby trail together, it was with a relative no-name, at least until the First Saturday in May, when the entire racing world became aware of their future superstar Funny Cide (Distorted Humor). This time around, 17 years and some gray hairs later, all eyes will be on them and their charge from the jump, as Grade I winner Tiz the Law (Constitution) gets his highly-anticipated 3-year-old campaign underway as a heavy favorite in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. at Gulfstream.

Picked up for $110,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale in the summer of 2018, the colt with the all-encompassing blaze on his face came out firing when unveiled against Empire-breds Aug. 8 at Saratoga, kicking away to a powerful score with ears pricked while wrapped up on for much of the final furlong. He proved that was no fluke in the GI Champagne S., replicating his debut run nearly exactly against steeper competition. So impressive was he in those two efforts that he was considered a contender for the Eclipse Award despite declining a cross-country trip to run in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

That aspiration came crashing down, however, when Tiz the Law was upended for the first time in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 30 at Churchill. Made an odds-on favorite while trying two turns and catching a sloppy track for the first time, the bay was boxed in for much of the running, but didn't have his customary punch even when finding room between rivals in the final furlong, greenly jumping back to his left lead and coming up three-quarters of a length short in third. Despite the result eliminating him from the Eclipse discussion, it hasn't put a damper on the buzz surrounding Tiz the Law among bettors and fans alike.

“That was a tough spot with the track being what it was and caught down inside, but a lot of people think like I do and draw a line through this race,” Sackatoga's Jack Knowlton told the Gulfstream notes team. “Even after he lost that race, he was the favorite in the first [Kentucky Derby] futures pool and he's the lowest odds at William Hill in Vegas for the Derby. There is a little more pressure than in the days of Funny Cide, who came in under the radar.”

Given a month off after the KJC, Tiz the Law has breezed four times in the interim, including a half-mile bullet in :48 flat (1/41) Jan. 26 at Palm Meadows.

“It was a nice break for him after the race in Kentucky,” Knowlton said. “[The Holy Bull] came at a good time and is close to our home base up in Palm Meadows. It's a historic race for us. Funny Cide ran [fifth] in it. We said, 'Let's go do it.'”

A distant second choice on the morning line behind 3-5 Tiz the Law is Juddmonte Farms' Toledo (Into Mischief). Runner-up as the favorite on debut Sept. 28 at Belmont, the homebred rode the rail to an open-length graduation Nov. 9 at Aqueduct before finishing second at odds-on in a local allowance Dec. 20. Besting him that day was 14-1 upsetter Ete Indien (Summer Front). Rallying to a sharp victory debuting at five furlongs over the local turf Sept. 13, the dark bay was eighth in the GIII Dixiana Bourbon S. on the Keeneland lawn Oct. 6 before dueling on a swift pace and scoring by 2 1/2 lengths in his first main-track try.

“We've put him in the salty water, but we need to know where we are,” said trainer and co-owner Patrick Biancone. “It's early. We're still in January. What we are going to do with him is see if he can show us the potential of a Derby horse. So far, so good. If he has it, he has it. If he doesn't have it, we're not going to force him to finish ninth in the Derby. My partners don't have Derby fever, but they will have it, if he is one of the first four or five favorites.”

Relentless Dancer (Midshipman) steps up the class ladder for trainer Mike Maker. Sixth when debuting in a turf sprint Aug. 15 at Saratoga, the dark bay dead-heated for the win with recent GIII Lecomte S. runner-up Silver State (Hard Spun) to break his maiden Sept. 27 at Churchill and followed that up with an easy 10 1/2-length romp in the state-bred Louisiana Legacy S. Oct. 19 at Delta Downs.