Jack Knowlton's Sackatoga Stable has notched rather impressive check marks for a stable that historically has six or fewer horses, even in the best of times.
A Kentucky Derby (G1) victory: check.
A Preakness Stakes (G1) victory: check.
A Belmont Stakes (G1) victory: check.
A Travers Stakes (G1) victory: Check back Aug. 8.
An overachiever if there ever was one, Sackatoga Stable first basked in the national spotlight in 2003 when the New York-bred gelding Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes for the partnership and trainer Barclay Tagg.
Now, 17 years later, they're back on top, this time with another New York-bred who, thankfully for the checking accounts of the partnership's 35 members, has all the necessary equipment to one day become a stallion for Coolmore America's Ashford Stud. In Tiz the Law , they have the top-ranked 3-year-old, who captured the 2020 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets by 3 3/4 lengths to atone for Funny Cide's Triple Crown-spoiling loss in 2003 and put a check in that box. Tiz the Law is an even-money favorite to pick up one more check mark that eluded Funny Cide.
"There's a lot of local people from Saratoga involved with this stable, so that makes this a big deal," said Knowlton, the managing partner and founder of Sackatoga Stable. "The (Runhappy Travers) is an extraordinarily prestigious race. We won the (Champagne Stakes, G1), and we won the Belmont with 'Tiz.' If we can win the Travers, the biggest race at Saratoga, it will check another big box for Sackatoga and Barclay."
The odds are certainly in Tiz the Law's favor as the son of Constitution landed Post 6 in a field of eight 3-year-olds at the Aug. 5 post position draw for Saturday's 1 1/4-mile Midsummer Derby at Saratoga Race Course (6:15 p.m. ET post time, Fox).
For Knowlton, a Saratoga resident and one of only two original Sackatoga members from the Funny Cide days, it was a disappointing blow when Funny Cide became ill in August and could not run in the most important race at his hometown track, adding to the personal importance of seeing Tiz the Law in the Travers.
"The Travers is the race we had the most regrets about missing with Funny Cide," he said.
Having a small stable, Knowlton and his partners overcame huge odds to land another classic winner, and though Tiz the Law has taken them to the promised land of the Travers, the trip will be different than they envisioned. Only 12 licensed owners per horse will be allowed inside the Spa due to COVID-19 restrictions, so Knowlton and 11 partners will be on hand at the Spa, sitting at picnic tables near the paddock while the majority of the group will gather about 10 furlongs away for a socially distanced viewing party at the Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Saratoga Springs.
"It's not as big a group as we'd like to have at the track," Knowlton said, "but it is what it is."
Then again, what has followed a time-honored script in 2020?
With coronavirus closings disrupting racing schedules, the 151st Travers is actually serving the unique role as a prep for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. Though 100-40-20-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points will be awarded to the top four finishers in the $1 million Travers, Tiz the Law is already assured of a spot in the Run for the Roses with a leaderboard-topping 272 points.
More important for him and his connections will be something unusual for a classic winner this time of year: how he will handle the 1 1/4-mile distance. Even though he won the Belmont Stakes, which was reduced from 1 1/2 miles to 1 1/8 this year, Tiz the Law is untested at a distance beyond nine furlongs—as is everyone else in the field.
Bred by Twin Creeks Farm out of the Tiznow mare Tizfiz, Tiz the Law is a winner of five of six starts and is coming off back-to-back 1 1/8-mile wins under jockey Manny Franco in the Belmont Stakes and the Curlin Florida Derby (G1). In Knowlton's estimation, he has displayed all the necessary characteristics to thrive at 10 furlongs in both the Travers and the Kentucky Derby, where he will be the only horse with a chance to sweep the revised Triple Crown.
"I feel a mile and a quarter will be right in his wheelhouse based on his races, his breeding, his gallop outs when he works. All of that says to me he should be better at a mile and a quarter than a mile and an eighth," Knowlton said about the $110,000 buy from the Sequel New York consignment at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearling Sale. "Hopefully I'm right. If he performs like I think he should, it will give him a big edge for the Kentucky Derby.
"I don't think any distance matters to this horse."
Reflecting on how Tiz the Law has remained in top form throughout a long and strange year that started with a Feb. 1 win in the Holy Bull Stakes (G3), Knowlton believes Tagg deserves praise—and Hall of Fame consideration—for his ability to keep the 3-year-old sharp through layoffs of nine weeks, eight weeks, 12 weeks, and now seven weeks.
"To keep a horse sharp for six months, Barclay gets tremendous kudos," Knowlton said. "Tiz the Law looks like he's ready to fire. There's no question he's coming up to the Travers better than he did for the Belmont Stakes."
To add that check mark, Tiz the Law will face challenges from the undefeated Uncle Chuck , who drew Post 3 at program odds of 5-2, and Max Player (Post 4, 6-1), who was third in the Belmont Stakes.
Uncle Chuck, trained by three-time Travers winner Bob Baffert, is light on seasoning with just two starts. Yet the son of Uncle Mo won the 1 1/8-mile Los Alamitos Derby (G3) by four lengths in his most recent start and displayed the kind of rare talent in his training that inspired his connections to take a big gamble in shipping across the country to face the division-leading Tiz the Law at 10 furlongs.
"Uncle Chuck is doing well. He's maturing," Baffert said about the 3-year-old owned by Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman. "He's very professional. He's a big, long-striding guy. He has speed, but I train him differently, similar to Arrogate, with nothing really fast. He's lightly raced, but he's fresh and doing well. He's never run against horses like these before. We'll see where he fits and go from there. We'll see if he's a Kentucky Derby-type horse. I think he's going to like the distance, but you just don't know until they do it."
Arrogate, in case your memory is fuzzy, shipped east like Uncle Chuck and won the 2016 Travers in his fifth start and stakes debut—by 13 1/2 lengths in the track-record time of 1:59.36—explaining why Knowlton said, "Baffert has me worried the most. It's the Baffert effect."
George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player rallied from ninth in the Belmont Stakes to finish third, 5 1/4 lengths behind Tiz the Law, and gets an extra furlong Saturday to play catch-up.
"I think the added distance will help," trainer Linda Rice said of the son of Honor Code, "but it's funny. Sometimes when they run shorter distances they go faster early and you have a better chance to close with a horse like him."
Paul Pompa Jr.'s Country Grammer (Post 2, 6-1) and Global Thoroughbred and Top Racing's Caracaro (Post 7, 10-1) will return in the Travers after finishing 1-2, respectively, in the July 16 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) at the Spa.
"He's an interesting horse who shows a lot of guts," trainer Chad Brown said about Country Grammer, a Tonalist colt. "His (speed figures) aren't bad and I like the added distance. I'm not delusional; he isn't among the upper echelon of the 3-year-old division. We'll see if he'll get the distance. He might be able to win a race better than the Peter Pan. I don't know about the Travers and the Kentucky Derby. In a normal year, he would have been my Belmont Stakes horse because he'll get the distance.
"Even on short rest, I think the reward is greater than the risk," he added.
Caracaro, a son of Uncle Mo trained by Gustavo Delgado, was a six-length maiden winner prior to a neck loss to Country Grammer in the Peter Pan.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 8, 2020, Race 11Entries: Runhappy Travers S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1First Line (KY) David Cohen 126 Orlando Noda 30/1 2 2Country Grammer (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 126 Chad C. Brown 6/1 3 3Uncle Chuck (KY) Luis Saez 126 Bob Baffert 5/2 4 4Max Player (KY) Joel Rosario 126 Linda Rice 6/1 5 5Shivaree (FL) Junior Alvarado 126 Ralph E. Nicks 30/1 6 6Tiz the Law (NY) Manuel Franco 126 Barclay Tagg 1/1 7 7Caracaro (KY) Javier Castellano 126 Gustavo Delgado 10/1 8 8South Bend (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 126 William I. Mott 15/1
