Belmont winner Tiz the Law heavy favorite in Travers. See the full field with odds.
Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law was installed as the 1-1 morning-line favorite Wednesday for Saturday’s $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Trainer Barclay Tagg, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes with Funny Cide in 2003, has Tiz the Law atop the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 272 qualifying points.
Saturday’s 151st “Midsummer Derby” at Saratoga Race Course is one of only three remaining Kentucky Derby points races before the Run for the Roses takes place on Sept. 5. The Kentucky Derby was rescheduled from its usual first Saturday in May position on the calendar because of the coronavirus pandemic. The third leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, is set for Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
Tiz the Law won this year’s first jewel, the Belmont Stakes on June 20 in New York, by 3 ¾ lengths over Dr Post, with Max Player another 1 ½ lengths behind in third. Tiz the Law, owned by Sackatoga Stable and ridden by Manny Franco, has won five of his six career races, including the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream last March and the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont last October. His only misstep was a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville last November.
In the Travers, which like the Kentucky Derby is run at 1 ¼ miles, Tiz the Law will face a field of seven other contenders. Tiz the Law drew post position No. 6 on Wednesday.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do,” Tagg said. “We’ve been very fortunate. I don’t think any distance makes a difference for this horse. From what I’ve seen, I just don’t have any feeling that he can’t handle it. It would be nice to win it if we could.”
The top challenger figures to be Bob Baffert trainee Uncle Chuck, the second choice at 5-2 leaving from post position No. 3 under Luis Saez. Linda Rice-trained Max Player (6-1) is back for another try at Tiz the Law with Joel Rosario aboard.
“Coming in from the Belmont, he was coming off a bit of a break so I trained pretty aggressively,” Rice said of Max Player. “Coming into this race, I backed off him a little bit and did more maintenance breezes. I wasn’t quite as aggressive with him, but I think he’s ready.”
The lightly raced Uncle Chuck will be making only his third career start. He broke his maiden June 12 at Santa Anita, then won the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on the Fourth of July. He’s currently 22nd in the Kentucky Derby points standings with 20 points.
The Travers distributes 100 points to the winner, 40 for second place, 20 for third and 10 for fourth.
“He’s been training well, and I thought he deserves a chance to run in it,” Baffert said of Uncle Chuck. “He’s only had two races, but they were pretty impressive. The talent is there, he’s just still figuring it out and putting it together. He’s still a little green, but I thought the mile and a quarter might be good for him. He’s got a big, long stride. He’s got speed, so as long as he gets in a nice, relaxed rhythm we’ll see how he handles the mile and a quarter. You’ve got a horse like Tiz the Law in there, and he scared a lot of them away.”
The Travers, normally run after the Triple Crown season is long over, takes on a different shine this year but remains a tradition all its own.
“It’s been a race that I’ve wanted to win the most since I was a child here at the track,” said Chad Brown, trainer of Country Grammer (6-1). “It’s definitely a disappointing year to participate with no fans, but nevertheless, it’s still the Travers, and it’s still something that we would be extremely appreciative of if we were able to win.”
Saturday
151st Travers Stakes
What: Grade 1 race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds known as the “Midsummer Derby”
Where: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Post time: 6:15 p.m.
TV: Fox-56
Distance: 1 1/4 miles
Purse: $1 million
Favorite: Tiz the Law (1-1)
Travers Stakes field
1. First Line (30-1)
2. Country Grammer (6-1)
3. Uncle Chuck (5-2)
4. Max Player (6-1)
5. Shivaree (30-1)
6. Tiz the Law (1-1)
7. Caracaro (10-1)
8. South Bend (15-1)
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 11:17 AM.