Tiz the Law checks out the Churchill Downs paddock Thursday after training hours. Coady Photography.
By Melissa Bauer-Herzog
The two New York-bred Kentucky Derby contenders enjoyed an easy day after heavy early morning rains again left the main track at Churchill Downs sloppy Thursday morning.
Tiz the Law jogged two laps under the twin spires with Heather Smullen aboard and trainer Barclay Tagg closely attending the pair on his pony. Plans set out yesterday initially called for Tiz the Law to gallop Thursday and Friday but with a record-breaking amount of rain dropping 2.3 inches in Louisville, Tagg grudgingly called an audible.
“I wish I could have done more with him, but couldn’t because we’ve had two days of hard rain,” Tagg said. “He’ll gallop tomorrow and he’ll school in the paddock today during the fourth race.”
Thursday’s training added another another chapter in a book that has seen Tiz the Law’s team divert from their original plans most of the spring and summer. They had planned out his schedule early in the year but like most plans, it had been forced to change with the rise of COVID-19.
“The whole plan for the year pretty well had been determined,” Sackatoga Stable’s Jack Knowlton said. “We wanted to run in the Holy Bull, skip the Fountain of Youth and go in the Florida Derby. Five weeks later Barclay had him primed to run in the Kentucky Derby but the world changed and we had to change with it.”
Knowlton admitted that they weren’t sure where to run next after the Kentucky Derby was off but that quickly changed with the Belmont Stakes moving to just a few weeks later. The break between Florida Derby and Belmont allowed Tiz the Law to enter the summer races fresh with the change in schedule also allowing connections to see how the colt would handle the 1 ¼-mile distance in the Travers Stakes.
“You look at the way he ran in the Travers, his lifetime Beyer Speed Figure went up 9 points and that was with Manny (Franco) gearing him down,” Knowlton said of the normal Derby distance question. “He was just cantering the last sixteenth of a mile, the fourth fastest Travers wrapped up. That makes us feel good. It’s a little daunting being a 3-5 morning-line favorite in the Kentucky Derby but he’s earned it.”
Saffie Joseph Jr.’s decision to gallop fellow New York-bred Ny Traffic Wednesday before the heavy rain hit today paid off during morning training. Stepping on to the track at 7:30 a.m. after over three hours of heavy rain, Ny Traffic just jogged a mile for an easy bit of exercise two days after his arrival at Churchill Downs.
Ny Traffic has been a consistent in the 3-year-old stakes this year with four top-three finishes in Kentucky Derby preps. The colt will be looking to break a streak of three seconds in the Kentucky Derby after coming within a nose of a Grade 1 win in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes last out. Joseph said the addition of blinkers in his races has helped him improve with every start.
“Blinkers seem to have really taken him to a new aspect,” Joseph said. “He’s more steady in his races, more focused. He’s been on the improve. All we need is one more improvement from him and he’s going to be a horse that is going to make a name for himself Saturday.”
