Travers Brings Back Memories for Team Tiz the Law

As anyone would expect, this week's lead-up to the 152nd Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) will rekindle a bevy of memories for the trio of Jack Knowlton, trainer Barclay Tagg, and Robin Smullen.

It was a year ago that they teamed to prove that lightning can indeed strike twice. Trained by Tagg with an immense amount of help from his assistant trainer and life partner Smullen, Tiz the Law   reeled off consecutive grade 1 wins for Knowlton's Sackatoga Stable partnership in the Curlin Florida Derby, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and Travers.

"The last few weeks have been a lot of fun with the memories coming back of the Travers," said Knowlton, Sackatoga's operating manager. "It was a great year, even though we couldn't see two of the grade 1s in person because of the pandemic. You don't win a grade 1 stakes every day."

It was a feat made even more amazing by the circumstances surrounding it.

Despite Sackatoga campaigning about four New York-bred horses a year, Tiz the Law became the stable's second American classic winner and completed a rare personal Triple Crown for Sackatoga and Tagg. It put the finishing touches on a highly unlikely, 17-year-long sweep that started in 2003 when they won the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) with the Tagg-trained Funny Cide  and made them members in a highly exclusive club of a handful of active trainers and owners who can claim the distinction of winning all three legs of the Triple Crown.

"It's pretty amazing when you think about it," Knowlton said. "We only race a few New York State-breds a year and we've proven New York-breds can compete with the best and sometimes beat the best. We don't have a barn full of stakes horses but we've been able to do things most people only dream of. Most people dream about just running in the Kentucky Derby and we've been first and second in two tries."

The odds against having such a small stable and producing two different winners of a Triple Crown race as well as winners of the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) are staggering. It took a while, but Sackatoga, Tagg, and Smullen overcame them through a resolve that is best reflected in an anniversary swirling around Knowlton's mind—and, no, it's not the Travers.

It was two years ago, on the same Aug. 8 date when Tiz the Law won the Travers, that Sackatoga's New York-bred $110,000 yearling buy made his debut at 2 and posted his first victory in a career that featured six wins in nine starts with earnings of more than $2.7 million as well as a stallion deal in excess of $10 million from Ashford Stud, where he is now standing.

"I still think about three years ago when we entered 'Tiz' in a maiden race at Saratoga," Knowlton said. "Little did we know where it would take us and maybe it can happen again."

Neither Sackatoga nor Tagg will be represented by a starter in Saturday's Travers at Saratoga Race Course during a week when the past and the future will blend into one for them.

As they recall Tiz the Law's heroics and engage in events such as Travers poster signings, they are also hopeful that five 2-year-olds and four 3-year-olds in Sackatoga's recently expanded stable will return them to the excitement of racing against the sport's giants in graded stakes.

"Tiz the Law was a wonderful horse," Tagg said about the son of Constitution   whose planned 4-year-old racing season was scrapped after he was diagnosed with bone bruising in late December. "The injury that ended his career takes the heart out of you, but we're professional horse people. You work every day from 4 to 4 and then some and you can't sit around and dwell on losing him. You have to find another one. You're always looking for a good horse and we were super lucky to find two New York-breds that were great."

Finding another Tiz the Law, or a $3.5 million earner such as Funny Cide, and replicating what happened in 2020 will not be easy, to say the least.

Tiz the Law filled in the blanks on the famed career of the gelded Funny Cide for Sackatoga, Tagg, and Smullen. He won the Belmont Stakes, the race where Funny Cide finished third, thwarting his bid to become the 12th Triple Crown winner. 

What was even more special for the Sackatoga group was the Travers. The group was founded by friends who attended high school together in the Saratoga region, and even though Knowlton and Lew Titterton are the only veterans from the original group still involved in the partnership, most of the newer members also have a connection to the Saratoga area.

Funny Cide missed the Travers due to an illness, but Tiz the Law was at his very best for the Midsummer Derby, winning by 5 1/2 lengths under Manny Franco at 1-2 odds while recording the fifth fastest winning time in the long history of the summer fixture for 3-year-olds. During a year in which the Belmont Stakes was contested in front of just essential personnel due to the pandemic and only licensed owners were allowed inside Saratoga, the Sackatoga group had to watch the Belmont Stakes from afar, but Knowlton and about 18 Sackatoga owners were fortunate enough to be on hand for Tiz the Law's grade 1 triumph at the Spa.

"The Travers was fantastic but it's also a bittersweet memory," Knowlton said. "With our local connection, they would have sold out 50,000 people to see 'Tiz' in his best race. He won the fifth-fastest Travers while being geared down. It was disappointing we couldn't share that live with so many race fans, but fortunately we got him into every race we wanted, even with the discombobulated schedule.

"It was all a great tribute to the work of Barclay and Robin. Barclay does not get many exceptional horses to work with, but when he gets them, he knows what to do with them."

The cheers during the stretch run may have been muted compared to what will be heard Saturday, but for Smullen the Travers will be a memory that will always be with her.

"You certainly relive last year every time you think about the Travers," Smullen said. "It was a great performance, probably his best race."

The Travers, which was run three weeks earlier than usual because of the pandemic, proved to be Tiz the Law's last victory as he then finished second in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve over a Churchill Downs surface he suffered two of his three career losses on. He ended his 3-year-old season with a sixth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland.

The bone bruising brought his career to an abrupt end but there was tremendous pride over accomplishing so much with a horse who was bred by Twin Creeks Farm out of the Tiznow  mare Tizfiz who was bought for just $110,000 from the Sequel New York consignment at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale.

"You're grateful that you had a horse like him, and when you are in a situation like us where you don't have another really good one sitting in the wings, it makes it that much more special," Smullen said. "It was hard to lose him but very rewarding to have him in the first place, especially knowing we were the ones that picked him out and saw all of the good things in him. Everyone else could have gotten him, but we did. We were all at the same sale. He was a champion in our eyes."

Though he stands at stud in Kentucky, it can be said that a part of Tiz the Law remains with the connections. Thanks to the financial success and acclaim generated by the Constitution colt, Sackatoga was able to increase its stable from five to 10 New York-breds (all trained by Tagg and Smullen), jump from 50 to 90 partners, most of them paying between $5,000-$10,000 for a share, and increase its spending at sales.

"With the success of 'Tiz' we had a good financial result, so we decided to play the game harder and added partners," Knowlton said. "Things are going well and we're hoping some of the 2-year-olds will turn out well."

The first sign of a change in Sackatoga's modus operandi at a sale came last year when they paid $290,000 for a Tonalist   filly consigned by Kirkwood Stables at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. Bred by John Lauriello and named Tapple Cider , she has started three times and finished fourth each time.

With Tagg and Smullen scouting the prospects for them, Sackatoga has been active at yearling and 2-year-old sales.

Their purchases include:

• Tiz Eternal, a Tiznow colt that cost $300,000 from the Hunter Valley Farm consignment at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase;
• Greek Strider, a Kantharos   filly bought earlier this year at the Midlantic sale for $150,000 from the Wavertree Stables consignment;
• Sum One to Blame, a Blame   2-year-old filly bought for $90,000 at the Midlantic sale from the Paul Sharp consignment;
• Tap Fast Anna, a Fast Anna  filly sold for $92,000 out of the Harry Landry Bloodstock consignment at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale;
• and Money Merger, a Central Banker   colt bought for $70,000 a year ago from the McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds consignment at the Midlantic yearlings sale.

None of them have raced yet, but that day could come in the next few weeks when dreams will once again bloom.

"You miss having one of the same caliber as 'Tiz' in the barn but then you go to the sales and try to find the next one," Smullen said. "It's rewarding and we love to watch his races and reflect, but you have to keep pushing forward and get the next one."

The Sackatoga additions include two horses bought last week at the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale. One was a Constitution colt for $190,000 from the Sequel New York consignment. The other was a $130,000 Accelerate   colt from the Four Star Sales consignment.

"We were pretty happy to get the Constitution colt," Knowlton said. "I thought he would sell for $300,000 and we weren't going to go there. We're really happy with the price. He was our first choice in the sale. Maybe lightning can strike twice with a son of Constitution."

So far in 2021, Sackatoga has just one win from 19 starts after posting six wins a year ago, their highest total since 2009.

For Tagg, last year's marvelous season with Tiz the Law has brought a few new owners, but he elected to keep his stable at its customary size of about 30 horses. Though last year at the age of 82 he became the oldest trainer of a Belmont Stakes winner, he remains as spry as ever and is more physically active than some trainers half his age.

Tiz the Law remains his most recent graded stakes winner and the trainer has won five of 56 starts in 2021 after a 13-win, $3.1 million year in 2020, but a row of young horses in his barn breeds hope that another black-type runner may be on the horizon.

"I get the same thrill as I did 40 years ago. Every win is exciting," Tagg said. "I could have done other things in life, like mow lawns, but I still love to get a win every now and then, and you're always looking for a good horse. They say no trainer has ever died when he has a good 2-year-old in the barn."

Much to Smullen's chagrin, for all of the fanfare surrounding Tiz the Law, it did little to boost Tagg's stock for inclusion on the sport's Hall of Fame ballot. He failed to secure enough votes from a nominating committee (which includes this writer) to merit consideration as a finalist, even with a career that dates back to 1972 with 1,595 wins, according to Equibase, and status as one of four active trainers along with Hall of Famers D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito, and Bob Baffert with the distinction of winning all three Triple Crown races.

One of the stats working against Tagg is that despite his Triple Crown success, he has just 46 graded stakes wins since 2000. In that same period the two trainers nominated and elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020 and 2021, Mark Casse and Todd Pletcher, have 186 and 704, respectively.

"It was disappointing he was not nominated for the Hall of Fame after all he has done in his career and what he accomplished last year with Tiz the Law," Smullen said. "As an outsider to the process, I don't know why he wasn't nominated. He deserves it. Maybe it can change in the future. If we get another one like 'Tiz' they can't deny him."

It certainly wouldn't hurt, especially with races like the Travers keeping memories of Tiz the Law and the team behind him fresh in everyone's mind.