Tiz the Law Fires Bullet for Kentucky Jockey Club

Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law finalized his major preparations for the $300,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) with a bullet five-furlong move in :59 3/5 Nov. 23 on the main track at Belmont Park.

"Everything looks good right now," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "There's a lot that goes on between now and next week, but everything is good right now. He's an awfully nice colt. He's interested in life, but he's not silly. He's all business."

Tiz the Law, a son of Constitution , is undefeated following his four-length score in the Oct. 5 Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont. His connections decided to bypass the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) to target the Nov. 30 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.

"We had the same situation with Funny Cide (in 2002)," said Sackatoga Stable's managing partner, Jack Knowlton. "Everyone said we had the nicest 2-year-old so send him out to Arlington to run (in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile). Barclay didn't want to do it. His attitude is, if you really want a nice 3-year-old, you don't do too much with them as a 2-year-old. The decision really was about us wanting to do everything we can to get to Churchill the first Saturday in May."

Tiz the Law was bottled up in traffic for a majority of the Champagne Stakes, but once he found clear running at the three-sixteenths pole, he stormed home to a convincing victory under Manny Franco.

Video: Champagne S. (G1)

"If you look at his two races, he has gotten one incredible education," Knowlton said. "He mixed it up at Saratoga (in his maiden race), split horses, and got dirt in his face. He did the same thing in the Champagne. (Assistant trainer) Robin (Smullen) constantly says nothing seems to faze this horse. In his training, one of the things that Barclay does is he puts him behind a couple of horses and lets him get used to getting dirt in his face so he'll be used to that in the races.

"It was very surprising to be in that spot (in the Champagne). We drew outside, which is typically a very advantageous post. The race unfolded unlike I could have ever imagined. I figured that we'd be able to sit outside of horses and not get too wide going around the turn and just be able to come home. He was in the middle of a mess there for a little while. He had to check so he didn't clip heels. He is pretty battle-tested after two races when a lot of horses haven't gone through that yet."

Tiz the Law is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs the afternoon of Nov. 25 from New York. Franco is scheduled to ride.

Entries for the 1 1/16-mile race will take place Nov. 27. Horses likely to enter, according to assistant racing secretary and stakes coordinator Dan Bork, are: American Butterfly (trainer D. Wayne Lukas), Fighting Seabee (Kenny McPeek), Mr. Tip (Jack Sisterson), Sir Winsalot (McPeek), and South Bend (Stan Hough).

Albaugh Family Stables' racing manager, Jason Loutsch, reported that impressive debut winner Thousand Words, co-owned by Spendthrift Farm and trained by Bob Baffert, is "50/50" to enter the Jockey Club.

The Kentucky Jockey Club is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby and offers points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the first four finishers toward a spot in the starting gate for the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).