High Hopes for Tiz the Law's Siblings as Derby Looms

In a one-of-a-kind year, Randy Gullatt and Steve Davison of Twin Creeks Farm are about to experience a five-day span like no other.

First, the breeders of Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) favorite Tiz the Law will head to Churchill Downs Sept. 5 to watch the standout colt produced by their program compete in the Run for the Roses. Then they'll offer his half brother, a striking son of Mission Impazible , as Hip 73 at the Sept. 9 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase.

In a normal season, connections lucky enough to be selling a yearling sibling to a top Kentucky Derby contender would have either a three-month wait from the first Saturday in May until Fasig-Tipton's August sales in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., or an even longer span until the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. As COVID-19 wreaked havoc with "normal," however, the Kentucky Derby was moved to Labor Day weekend and Fasig-Tipton was forced to cancel three of its traditional selected yearling sales—The July Sale, The Saratoga Sale, and the New York Bred Yearlings Sale. 

The upcoming showcase, scheduled as a consolidated replacement, will put the best on display in Lexington instead of in New York, but a strong New York-bred contingent will nevertheless be represented, including Tiz the Law's half brother. Between Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland, Twin Creeks will offer six New York-breds and eight Kentucky-breds at auction this season.

"We have some of the best colts we've had in a long time; we have a fabulous group of colts," Randy Gullatt said. "We have several Constitutions, just a really, really nice group. If they sell for a lot of money I'm going to be thrilled, but if we keep them and run them, they're as nice of individuals as we try to buy, too. We try to offer the majority of our horses at public auction. It's just kind of our program, but if they don't bring what we feel like is the fair value, then we race."

Fair value for Tiz the Law was just $110,000 when Sackatoga Stable's Jack Knowlton bought the New York-bred son of Constitution  at the New York-bred sale in 2018. His brilliant record in 2020 has helped boost his sire to the top of the charts.

"The commercial breeding market is very strong for the high-profile, top stallions, and when you get into a New York-sired New York-bred that is not by the flavor-of-the-day type of stallion, the market trends usually aren't as favorable for those horses," Gullatt said. "A Constitution now versus a Constitution a couple years ago is a totally different picture. 

"When Tiz the Law went through the sale, Constitution wasn't Constitution. It was very unsure where his progeny fit in the market, and that's why they were able to buy Tiz the Law for that price. A horse like him would cost three times that much today." 

From Family to Fans

It was one thing when Tiz the Law won the Champagne Stakes (G1) in 2019, and another when he came back and took the 2020 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) and Curlin Florida Derby (G1). But when the Barclay Tagg trainee galloped away with the June 20 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), Gullatt's emotions reached another level.

"When he won the Belmont, I literally cried," he recalled. "We've been to so many big races and won a bunch of big races, but seeing one of your kids go out there and do that, it's awesome. And he had so much personality with his eyes and his demeanor. I think it meant more to me, seeing that, even though we don't own him anymore. Seeing him do that and knowing the horse and where he came from and the journey he's been on, it was really emotional."

Then there was the 3-5 Derby favorite's most recent start, a romp in the Aug. 8 Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. 

"Then the fan in me came out because I was just in awe of him, just like, 'Oh my God, how good is this horse?'" Gullatt said. "I went from the Belmont being more of an emotional pride, to the Travers making me a huge fan. It seems like he's doing things that we haven't seen in a long time. For him to do what he's been doing for so long is impressive. His races are spread out. It's actually harder, I think, to do that, because you have to train them hard between to keep them fit. So to keep him sound for that amount of time is very, very, very hard. The people who are hands-on with this horse deserve a lot of credit."

Raising the Next Generation

Twin Creeks, which campaigned Constitution with WinStar Farm (where the leading second-crop sire now stands in Kentucky), also stands Mission Impazible at Sequel Stallions New York. The son of Unbridled's Song was the leading first-, second-, and third-crop sire in New York from 2016-18 and was the only New York stallion in his class to sire a stakes winner in each of those three years. His progeny earnings total over $8.7 million.

After purchasing the Tiznow  mare Tizfiz for $125,000 from Baccari Bloodstock's consignment to the 2014 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, the farm eventually sent her to Constitution and then twice to Mission Impazible. 

"We bought the mare because we thought she'd fit both Constitution and Mission Impazible," Gullatt said. "It was just a rotation thing. That's kind of what we do. The New York program is fantastic. They go up there, they foal, they come back here, and they're raised in Kentucky. So even though he's a New York-bred, he's really Kentucky-raised. He's got everything that a Kentucky-bred would have, except he was just foaled in New York. And that's just what we do with a lot of our mares when we support Mission Impazible or Destin  or one of those horses. That's just our program."

Tizfiz was bred back to Constitution for 2020 but died after undergoing colic surgery.

"That's the hard part of our business that we deal with, the things that break our heart," Gullatt said. "She was the sweetest mare, just loaded with class. I really enjoyed being with her. We didn't know she was going to be that kind of mare, either. She colicked, we took her in to have surgery, she died in recovery, and then Tiz the Law jumps up and we're just like, 'You've got to be kidding me.' But you know, there's things you can't control, and it's just part of it, even though it's tough."

Gullatt hopes Tiz the Law's 2-year-old half sister by Mission Impazible will step up to fill Tizfiz's shoes. Named Angel Oak after the ancient tree near Charleston, S.C., the filly is in training at WinStar gearing up for a late fall return to Todd Pletcher.

"She's probably one of my all-time favorites," Gullatt said. "Another incredible personality, loving like Tiz the Law was, like the mom was, like the yearling—just superb personality. She was showing a lot of talent at Susan Montanye's this winter, and we sent her to Todd Pletcher. She was doing well, and then one day she was off. We checked her out and they thought maybe she had a little bone bruising in a hind leg, so we brought her home and gave her 60 days off. She's back training again, so hopefully we have her ready for late fall, but she's actually showing some nice talent."

Angel Oak is eligible for New York-sired, New York-bred conditions, a restricted pool with lucrative awards.

"Up there in December, there's a $500,000 race," Gullatt said. "We've made all this effort to foal in New York, go back and forth, for an opportunity like that. That's my goal for her. She's training right now for that race, and if somehow she won, I'd bring her home and breed her to Constitution. 

"Either way, she's a keeper. Especially when Tiz the Law hit, and now we don't have the dam. It's a special pedigree for us, being by Mission Impazible, who's our boy, out of Tizfiz. We're not going to get that gene again, so she's not for sale. We had Constitution's mother here, Baffled, we had Mission Impazible's mother here, La Paz, and we had Tiz the Law's mother here, so that's a family that means a lot to us."

The yearling, however, is a different situation. With the majority of Twin Creeks' colts offered at public auction, it's time to let the market be the judge.

"I don't know what the market's going to say about him," Gullatt said. "I can't predict it. If someone is really excited to have him, we'll sell him, but if not, I like the horse. I think he's really nice. We don't have any problem racing him ourselves.

"I think he has some of the same qualities Tiz the Law had—personality, gets up every morning and says 'Yes,' eats up every day, always happy, lots of energy, extremely easy to work with, and strong. Tiz the Law, when he was a yearling, he wasn't an overly 'Oh my gosh' physical, but what he did have is class and a great work ethic, and those are cool things. In a young horse, we don't know what their talent is in front of them, but if they show class and show that 'want-to,' that's about all we can hope for."