Travers night celebrations meant different things for different people.
After Tiz the Law smoked the field Saturday in the 151st running of the Travers Stakes, Jack Knowlton, the operating manager of Sackatoga Stable, which owns the colt, went deep into the night. His drink of choice was a Tiztini, a new concoction invented just this week in honor of the big horse.
Trainer Barclay Tagg honored the historic victory with a tamer observance of the triumph. He and assistant/partner Robin Smullen had a small gathering at a neighbor's yard, with a little wine and a juicy steak. Then, after a quick trip back to the barn to check on the horses, it was off to bed.
Knowlton rolled home much later.
When asked Sunday morning outside of Tagg's barn how much sleep he got, Knowlton offered this: "Not enough," he said, and he wasn't kidding.
"I probably was," Tagg said when asked if he was asleep before his owner. "I was up before Jack, too."
The mood was light and jovial at the Tagg compound on the Saratoga backstretch Sunday morning, and why shouldn't it be?
Tiz the Law's dominating Travers win put Knowlton, Tagg and Tiz the Law — sounds like a law firm, doesn't it? — squarely in the seat every horseman wants to be in heading into the Kentucky Derby, the role of favorite. Even though a horse named Art Collector easily won the Ellis Park Derby on Saturday — giving him two straight wins, the other being the Blue Grass at Keeneland last month — no one is going to deny that Tiz the Law will be the horse to beat in Louisville.
The Derby will be run Sept. 5 after it was postponed from the first Saturday in May because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"To be honest with you," Knowlton said, "I am not worried about anybody after what I saw (Saturday)."
Tagg and Knowlton teamed up to win the first two legs of the 2003 Triple Crown when Funny Cide won the Derby and Preakness. Now, here they are with another New York-bred — Tiz the Law is a son of Constitution — and he is been powerful all year. His 51/2-length romp in the Travers gave him three Grade I wins on the year. The other two are the Florida Derby and Belmont.
Everything has been so effortless for the colt. His jockey, Manny Franco, says he hasn't had to ask his horse for everything he has yet. In the Travers he ran the 11/4 miles in a time of 2:00.95, and that puts Tiz the Law in the top five all-time for the fastest clockings of the race.
"He seems to terrorize the competition when he makes his move," Tagg said.
And now, it's on to Louisville. Tiz the Law will remain on the Saratoga backstretch until Aug. 31, the Monday before the Derby. He will fly to Kentucky and then take on all that want to try him. Tagg figures he will have two more workouts at Saratoga before departing.
When asked if he thought there would be a full field of 20 in the Derby, Tagg said he could not concern himself with things out of his control. Tiz the Law has a whopping 372 qualifying points for the Derby after earning 100 for winning the Travers. For the first time ever, the Midsummer Derby was considered a prep race for the Kentucky Derby.
"I would be perfectly happy with a six-horse field," Tagg said. "It's our job to make things go smoothly. We have been fortunate with him."
As for the rest of the Travers field, the only definite horse heading to Louisville is runner-up Caracaro. Gustavo Delgado Jr., who trains the horse with his father, said Caracaro came out of the race fine.
Delgado and his dad both know the challenge they will face when running against Tiz the Law again.
"I don't think there is any horse around that can be at the same level as that horse right now," Delgado Jr. said. "I don't think that will change much in a month. It will be a long four weeks, especially for the guys who have the pressure on them. That is them."
Trainer Linda Rice said Travers third-place finisher Max Player could be Derby bound but no decision has been made yet.
After watching his horse finish fifth in the Travers, trainer Chad Brown of Mechanicville said his horse, Country Grammer, would not run in Louisville. He might be seen next in the Jim Dandy Sept. 5 at Saratoga.
"I hope for (Tiz the Law team's) sake and for horse racing's sake, he stays healthy and is in as good of condition as we saw him Saturday," Brown said at his barn Sunday. "He'll be tough to beat. But it's horse racing. You never know race to race."
twilkin@timesunion.com • 518-454-5415 • @tjwilkin
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