Liam's Law Gives Colonel Liam First Stakes Winner

The early races on Saratoga Race Course's Sept. 5 card proved to be very fruitful for Robert and Lawana Low, but the highlight undoubtedly came in the $195,750 With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) when Liam's Law took the victory. The 2-year-old bay colt became the first stakes winner for Colonel Liam, who the Lows campaigned to a trio of grade 1 wins after purchasing him for $1.2 million out of the Wavertree Stables consignment at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. They have stayed involved with the son of Liam's Map at Ocala Stud, where he stood the 2026 season for $6,500 in Florida. Like Colonel Liam, Liam's Law is trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who said the Low's connection with Colonel Liam did play a bit of a role in the field for the With Anticipation. Low homebred High Official, a son of Not This Time, had also been entered for Saturday as the 7-5 morning-line favorite. However, that debut winner was training well enough to be cross-entered for the Sept. 6 Hopeful Stakes (G1) on dirt and was ultimately scratched from the With Anticipation. "They own part of the stallion standing at Ocala Stud and a graded stakes win is big," Pletcher said. "(That's) some of the thought process aside from the fact that we felt like the colt (High Official) was training really well for tomorrow. "We'll see tomorrow if we guessed right." Liam's Law debuted on a sloppy track at Aqueduct Racetrack that had been rained off the turf, finishing a well-beaten fourth over 5 1/2 furlongs. He showed great improvement July 12 when finally getting on the grass and stretching out to 1 1/16 miles for a front-running 1 1/4-length victory. That left him as the ownership's primary option for Saturday. Still, he had to go through his own Pletcher-trained stablemate, St. Elias Stables and Repole Stable's Bold Leadership. That rival was the 1-2 favorite, but showed hesitancy to load while being a touch restless in the gate. When the gates did spring open, Bold Leadership went up instead of forward, spotting his two rivals a few lengths. With Ricardo Santana Jr. aboard, Liam's Law established command of the three-horse field with little effort and coasted through fractions of :24.49, :49.11, and 1:13.65. Chantal Sutherland kept Anthony Fontana's Perfect Dream between the two Pletcher runners as Manny Franco was 2 1/2 lengths behind with Bold Leadership. Liam's Law put away Perfect Dream as they swung into the stretch, and Bold Leadership was beginning to rally. He got within a length with about a sixteenth to go, but Liam's Law hung tough, found more, and lasted for a neck win. He completed 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:42.59 and paid $4.82 to win. "I thought it was another move forward, and it seems like he's getting better and better," Pletcher said of Liam's Law. "He's a big, scopey horse. Great to be around, very professional, and seems to take to the grass pretty well." "I never thought that (Bold Leadership) was going to pass me no matter what, if he broke good or not," Santana said. "At the sixteenth, he looked like he was going to go by me, and when my horse—he was waiting for the horse all race—so when he feels him, he fights back." Bred and consigned by Ocala Stud, Liam's Law was purchased for $120,000 at the OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and has already earned $192,100 in three starts. The Lows and Pletcher stayed hot, winning the very next race, a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance, with 4-year-old Not This Time gelding Highlands Way. Pletcher said the colt will now target the $250,000 Pilgrim Stakes (G2T) Oct. 3 at Belmont Park with a potential eye on the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) Oct. 30 at Keeneland. As for Bold Leadership's break, Pletcher said, "He just misbehaved in the gate. He's been a little bit of a tough colt that way. I still think there's a lot of talent there, we just got to get him a little more focused. Credit to Liam's Law, it looked like he (Bold Leadership) had dead aim on him and he just dug in and found a little more."