What happened to Tiz the Law? And Thousand Words? How the rest of the Derby field fared.
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2020 Kentucky Derby coverage
The Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com produced numerous stories, photos and videos out of Saturday’s 146th Kentucky Derby won by Bob Baffert trainee Authentic at Churchill Downs. Click below to read all of our coverage.
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The coronation of Tiz the Law on Saturday at Churchill Downs didn’t go as planned.
Instead of wearing the roses to cap off this long, strange Kentucky Derby season, Tiz the Law chased Authentic all the way around the Churchill Downs track. And he never caught him.
Authentic went gate to wire from the far outside post in the 15-horse race, delivering Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby victory.
Here’s what happened to the heavy favorite and the rest of the Derby field.
Tiz the Law’s loss
Tiz the Law went off at 3-5 — making him the biggest favorite since Spectacular Bid won at the same odds in 1979 — and made his way inside after breaking from the second-farthest post from the rail.
He went a bit wide into the first turn but had clear running room and sat in fourth place behind Authentic, Ny Traffic and Storm the Court — an ideal spot for his running style. By the far turn, Tiz the Law moved into second place, inched even with Authentic at the top of the stretch and appeared to stick his head in front for a brief moment.
At that point, Authentic jockey John Velazquez knew it was on.
“It’s going to be a race between him and I. Let’s see who has more,” Velazquez recalled thinking at the time.
Authentic had more. He quickly drew away from Tiz the Law and never let the heavy favorite back in the picture, winning by 1 ¼ lengths.
“I had the trip that I expected,” said Tiz the Law jockey Manny Franco. “He just couldn’t go by the other horse. The other horse fought so hard. … The trip was perfect, no excuse.”
Mr. Big News third
One of the longest shots in the field at 46-1, Mr. Big News broke well and went toward the back of the pack under jockey Gabriel Saez before going into the first turn in 10th place. He stayed around that position before making a big move on the outside in the far turn — passing six horses in a matter of seconds — and entering the stretch in third place, a couple lengths behind Authentic and Tiz the Law. He stayed in that spot for the rest of the race.
With Mr. Big News in the third spot, the $1 trifecta paid $1,311.80, and the 10-cent superfecta paid $792.58, despite the top three betting favorites finishing first, second and fourth.
“He ran huge. Quite a thrill,” said trainer Bret Calhoun. “Going to the three-eighths pole, I thought we had a chance to win the whole thing. They didn’t quite come back to us. Just an incredible race on his part.”
Honor A. P.’s late bid
Honor A. P. was cut off at the break by Ny Traffic but stayed composed under jockey Mike Smith. He was last place in the early going, and he was still in 15th and last on the backstretch before inching forward and then making his run as the leaders neared the far turn.
Honor A. P. went widest of everyone into the stretch and kept running. By the middle of the stretch, he had reached fourth place, and he continued in that spot to the finish.
Smith said afterward that Honor A. P. broke awkwardly and didn’t like the Churchill track. It was the colt’s first career start outside of California.
“He spun out from the word go. Really did,” Smith said.
Rest of the field
Authentic’s gate-to-wire run left little opportunity for drama.
Max Player broke relatively cleanly from the far inside post and stayed on the rail, shuffling to the back of the pack and going into the first turn in 12th. He stayed near the back before trying to follow Mr. Big News with a run on the outside in the far turn. He passed some horses in the stretch for fifth place but didn’t factor into the finish.
Reigning 2-year-old champion Storm the Court went immediately to the lead and entered the first turn in second place behind Authentic. Ny Traffic passed him out of that turn and Tiz the Law did the same in the backstretch. By the top of the stretch, it was clear he wouldn’t win, and he finished sixth.
Enforceable entered the first turn in fifth and raced there for most of the backstretch. He appeared to fade off the leaders into the far turn, and by the time he re-emerged in the stretch, he was several lengths off the lead. He finished seventh.
Ny Traffic, who almost defeated Authentic in the Haskell in his previous race, broke awkwardly into Honor A. P.’s path, then cut inside and went straight for the lead. He raced early on in second — about a length behind Authentic — and stayed in that spot for the entire backstretch before fading in the far turn and finishing eighth.
The nine through 15 finishing positions were all occupied by horses with odds of 30-1 or longer, with the exception of 13th-place finisher Money Moves, who was bet down to 13-1. Neither he nor Necker Island (ninth), Major Fed (10th), Sole Volante (11th), Winning Impression (12th), Attachment Rate (14th) nor South Bend (15th) had any impact on the race.
Thousand Words scratched
Thousand Words, who is also trained by Bob Baffert, was scratched about 20 minutes before the race after a scary scene in the paddock. The 3-year-old colt reared and flipped over onto his side, then immediately gathered himself and returned to his feet. He walked around the paddock for a couple of minutes before an announcement that he would be removed from the race.
“Once they do that, it’s an automatic scratch,” said Baffert, who was standing next to Thousand Words as he went to the ground.
Baffert said that his longtime assistant trainer, Jimmy Barnes, suffered a broken arm in the incident.
Dr. Kathleen Anderson, the on-track veterinarian for Saturday’s race, said afterward that Thousand Words was OK.
“The good news is the horse is absolutely fine,” she said. “He’s returned to the stable area, had a thorough examination … and he has been cleared with not a scratch upon him.”
This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 10:12 PM.
