Tiz the Law, finalist for champion 3-year-old male honors, rolls to victory in the 2020 Belmont Stakes. NYRA/Elsa Lorieul Photo.
By Tom Law
Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz the Law earned an Eclipse Award nod in the 3-year-old male category after a 2020 season highlighted by his Belmont Stakes victory and two other Grade 1 triumphs.
Breeders’ Cup Classic and Kentucky Derby winner Authentic and Arkansas Derby winner Nadal join Tiz the Law in the 3-year-old male division.
The Eclipse Awards are determined by a vote of the National Turf Writers And Broadcasters, National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Daily Racing Form. Of the 249 eligible voters, 238 took part in the voting. Finalists are determined in each category by voters’ top three selections, using a 10-5-1 point system. The Eclipse Award winners are determined solely by first-place votes.
The winners in the 17 equine and human categories will be announced during a virtual ceremony of the 50th Eclipse Awards, presented by Spendthrift Farm, on TVG and other outlets at 8 p.m. ET Thursday, Jan. 28.
After a 2-year-old campaign that included a victory in the Grade 1 Champagne, Tiz the Law won four of six starts in 2020 with a second in the Kentucky Derby. He started the season with a win in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes before a victory in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in late March, both at Gulfstream Park.
The coronavirus pandemic altered the Triple Crown and Tiz the Law opened the series with a victory in the Belmont Stakes June 20 at Belmont Park. Tiz the Law’s victory completed a career sweep of the spring classics for Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg, who teamed to win the Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2003 with Eclipse Award winner Funny Cide.
Tiz the Law added another Grade 1 victory and improved to 4-for-4 less than two months later in Saratoga’s Travers Stakes. He finished the season with a second in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and a sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.
Bred by Twin Creeks Farm and out of the Tiznow mare Tizfiz, Tiz the Law sold for $110,000 to Sackatoga Stables’ Jack Knowlton at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale. He won six of nine and $2,735,300 before being retired in January.
Tiz the Law, who earned New York-bred Horse of the Year and champion 2-year-old male titles in 2019, will stand his first season for $40,000 at Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky.
The 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists (in alphabetical order) are:
Horse of the Year: Authentic, Improbable, Monomoy Girl
Two-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality, Fire At Will, Jackie’s Warrior
Two-Year-Old Filly: Aunt Pearl (IRE), Dayoutoftheoffice, Vequist
Three-Year-Old Male: Authentic, Nadal, Tiz the Law
Three-Year-Old Filly: Gamine, Shedaresthedevil, Swiss Skydiver
Older Dirt Male: Improbable, Maximum Security, Vekoma
Older Dirt Female: Midnight Bisou, Monomoy Girl, Serengeti Empress
Male Sprinter: Vekoma, Volatile, Whitmore
Female Sprinter: Gamine, Glass Slippers (GB), Serengeti Empress
Male Turf Horse: Channel Maker, Order of Australia (IRE), Zulu Alpha
Female Turf Horse: Audarya (FR), Rushing Fall, Tarnawa (IRE)
Steeplechase Horse: Moscato (GB), Rashaan (IRE), Snap Decision
Owner: Godolphin LLC; Klaravich Stables Inc.; Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, and Starlight Racing
Breeder: Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds LLC, Calumet Farm, WinStar Farm LLC
Trainer: Steve Asmussen, Bob Baffert, Brad Cox
Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr., Joel Rosario, John Velazquez
Apprentice Jockey: Luis Cardenas, Yarmarie Correa, Alexander Crispin
