Jack Knowlton is the head of Sackatoga Stables– the Saratoga, New York group that owns this years Travers, and Belmont Stakes Winner TIZ THE LAW.
It was 17 years ago that this same group had Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Winner FUNNY CIDE– trained by Barclay Tagg, who happens to be the conditioner for TIZ THE LAW.
Back in 2003 Tagg opted not to run FUNNY CIDE in his home-town race- The Travers due to illness.
It took 17 long years of waiting, but the moment was everything Knowlton expected. Maybe better:
“Absolutely this was very special. He performed even better than we could have hoped,” “We were confident going into the race, but this is the graveyard of favorites. We’re getting redemption 17 years later.”
The Graveyard Of Favorites needn’t have brought out the shovels for Saturday’s Travers, and TIZ THE LAW.
The New York-bred toyed with his rivals in Winning by 5 ½ lengths, under a savvy ride by jockey Manny Franco.
The horses’ performance in the Mid-Summer Derby removed any doubt over his status as a heavy favorite for the September 5th Kentucky Derby.
“Hopefully, we’ll continue on this roll and this is a great springboard to go to Kentucky. I think he’s proven today that he’s certainly a mile-and-a-quarter horse,” Knowlton said. “Barclay said that all along. I think as most of you know, Barclay hoped that the Belmont Stakes would be a mile and a half instead of a mile and an eighth.”
We shall see, come the first Saturday in September when TIZ THE LAW continues his quest to become the 14th Triple Crown Winner- asterisk or not.
