Francesca Le Donne Photo

Tiz the Law breezes in preparation for Kentucky Derby (G1)

by NYRA Press Office

• Tiz the Law breezes in preparation for G1 Kentucky Derby
• G1 Fourstardave champ Halladay possible for G1 Shadwell Turf Mile; Basin breezes for G2 Amsterdam
• Got Stormy earns 101 Beyer in runner-up effort; Spa maiden winner Enforceable training well into G1 Kentucky Derby
• Long Weekend to stick with familiar distance in G2 Amsterdam
• Cross Country Pick 5 with Del Mar returns $5,808, handles $238K

After Saturday's sudden downpour that drastically changed the track conditions and postponed Tiz the Law's workout, the Sackatoga Stable-owned colt was the first horse on the Saratoga Race Course main track Sunday, breezing five furlongs in a bullet 59.47 seconds in preparation for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on September 5.

At 5:30 a.m., on the main track rated fast with exercise rider Heather Smullen up, Tiz the Law reached three furlongs in :35 3/5 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:12 4/5 and up in 1:26 for seven furlongs.

Trainer Barclay Tagg said the workout for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Grade 1 Runhappy Travers champ was "perfect" as he prepares for the Kentucky Derby, second leg of the Triple Crown, at Churchill Downs. The third leg of the Triple Crown, the Grade 1 Preakness, is slated for October 3 at Pimlico Race Course.

"It went fast enough, but not too fast," Tagg said. "It was a little quicker than usual, but it wasn't too quick for him. He's a pretty fast horse. I told Heather I wanted a good work in him. I didn't want to set any records out there. I wanted her to keep a good snug hold on him. I wanted a good work."

This was the first workout for Tiz the Law since winning the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers by 5 ½ lengths on August 8. With two weeks before the Kentucky Derby, Tagg said this workout was important.

"This is an important workout. In one way, I don't have any way to make up for it," Tagg said. "It's the first thing he has done in the last two or three weeks. That's why I needed a good work today. If he goes a little too slow going on top of the race, I wouldn't want that, but I don't want it too fast either. It's going to have to be almost perfect. If it's just like today, that would be fine. I can only work him two times before this race. To me, this work was more important."

Smullen said the colt performed in a professional manner while working on dark Saratoga main track.

"It was a little dark and he wasn't quite as focused going down the backside," she said. "He was playing around. At the three-eighths pole, I took my stick out. He stayed nice and straight. I never had to ask him. At the eighth pole, he saw a horse. I didn't have to do anything. He finished up his work. Galloping out, he just kept going. He's good at what he does."

Watching near the clocker stand on the backstretch, Sackatoga Stable principal owner Jack Knowlton said he was also impressed with the workout and gallop out.

"Pretty amazing," Knowlton said. "If you watch him gallop out, he just wants more. He isn't even breathing hard, which is pretty amazing. They didn't expect that he was going to have a fast work. They wanted him to have a vigorous work and gallop out and get a lot out of the work. I think they got all of that and more. [Assistant trainer] Robin [Smullen] and Barclay said not to expect a real fast time because the plan was to be off the rail because the rail was pretty deep."

Tagg also had Joyce B. Young's Highland Sky working over the Oklahoma training turf course this morning in preparation for the Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer. Also with Smullen aboard, the 7-year-old gelding went in 1:01.22.

Highland Sky made a belated run from the back of the field in the Grade 2 Bowling Green, crossing the wire in third before being elevated to second behind Cross Border. This was the second workout off that race as his first workout was a bullet in 1:00 1/5 on August 14.

"He's doing well since that race," Tagg said. "If he wasn't doing well, I wouldn't be running him."

Almost five years ago [September 5, 2015] Highland Sky won his debut at Saratoga going 1 1/16 miles over the turf course. He has also won over the Saratoga main track by taking the John's Call in the off-the-turf event last August by 8¼ lengths.

 G1 Fourstardave champ Halladay possible for G1 Shadwell Turf Mile; Basin breezes for G2 Amsterdam

Trainer Todd Pletcher said Harrell Ventures' Halladay was in good order following his gate-to-wire victory in Saturday's Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga, which was a first graded stakes win for the gray son of War Front.

The six-time winner broke a step slow but quickly found his footing and commanded the pace of the one-mile event over the Spa's inner turf from start to finish, holding off a challenge from defending winner Got Stormy.

Halladay arrived at the Fourstardave off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch, where he took back and stalked the pace, and finished 1 ½ lengths to frontrunning winner Somelikeithotbrown.

"I was very happy with the way he looked this morning," Pletcher said. "It took him a few strides to get his legs underneath him, but once he did, he did everything easy. It appeared on paper that we were the primary speed, so our strategy was to go ahead and let him do his thing. If someone were to have gone cruising we could have adjusted, but he made the lead the way he did and moved comfortably after not getting off to a great break, but once he got to the first turn, he moved excellent."

Pletcher said the turf was not as kind to frontrunners during the early portion of the meet, but that it has become fairer as the season has progressed.

"At the very beginning it didn't see like it was, but now that things have balanced out it's become a more fair turf course," Pletcher said. "I was happy to see him handle some give in the ground. When it rained in the morning, I was concerned because I think he's even better on firm ground, but he seemed to handle that just fine yesterday."

In winning the Fourstardave, a Breeders' Cup "Win And You're In" event, Halladay earned an automatic entry into the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Mile on November 7 at Keeneland.

Pletcher said Halladay could return in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile on October 3 at Keeneland.

"We're in no rush to make a decision but the Shadwell would make a lot of sense if we decide that we want to run between now and the Breeders' Cup," Pletcher said.

Never worse than fourth in 14 starts, Halladay capped off his 3-year-old season with a victory in the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park before winning the Sunshine Forever on May 9 at the South Florida oval.

The win also marked 23 straight years Pletcher has won a Grade 1 dating back to 1998.

Grade 1 winner Basin worked a half-mile in 48.33 seconds Sunday on the main track.

Owned by Everett Dobson's Cheyenne Stables, the son of second crop sire Liam's Map will point towards Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam.

Basin will be making his debut for Pletcher after previously being campaigned by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen.

"I was pleased with his work this morning, so right now the plan is the Amsterdam," Pletcher said. "We'll see how he responds to the cutback in distance and make a decision on what's next after that."

Got Stormy earns 101 Beyer in runner-up effort; Spa maiden winner Enforceable training well into G1 Kentucky Derby

Gary Barber's multiple Grade 1-winner Got Stormy returned to her stellar 2019 form with a game runner-up effort in Saturday's Grade 1 Fourstardave.

The 5-year-old Get Stormy chestnut won the 2019 edition of the one-mile inner turf tilt in a course record 1:32 flat [109 Beyer], highlighting a campaign in which she notched six triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures from eight starts, including a Grade 1 score in the Matriarch [104 Beyer] at Del Mar along with second-place finishes in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile [100 Beyer] and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile [104 Beyer].

Returning to Saratoga in search of tighter turns on the inner turf and firm footing, Casse said his plans were nearly scuppered when an early-morning storm hit the Capital Region leaving the turf course rated good.

"I was proud of her. I was a little worried when the storm happened, though you'd think with her name she'd like that," quipped Casse. "She's back to her triple Beyers, which is good."

Utilizing a stalking trip under Tyler Gaffalione on Saturday, Got Stormy tipped out for the stretch run and pushed frontrunning Halladay to the limit while garnering a seasonal best 101 Beyer, her first triple-digit effort in five starts this year.

"I think the turf was fast yesterday but still not 100 percent hard," said Casse. "I think a lot of it [the good effort] has to do with being at Saratoga. She trains well up there."

While Casse said a trip to Keeneland in the fall for a Breeders' Cup Win and You're In event is under consideration, the chestnut mare may turn back in distance for the Grade 3, $500,000 Ladies Sprint going 6 1/2-furlongs at Kentucky Downs.

"We're flirting with the idea of running her at Kentucky Downs going six and a half against fillies," said Casse. "We've thought all along she could get a mile if the turf is perfect, but I've always thought she's a better seven-eighths type of horse and at Kentucky Downs six-and-a-half is like running seven-eighths."

Casse said a return trip to the Breeders' Cup Mile may not be suitable for Got Stormy.

"I don't know that she can go a mile at Keeneland," said Casse. "Normally, in the fall, the ground is a little soft there."

John Oxley's Enforceable, a fourth-out maiden winner at Saratoga last August, breezed six furlongs in 1:12.20 Sunday morning under jockey Adam Beschizza on the Churchill Downs main track in preparation for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

"He's doing extremely well," said Casse. "This was his last big breeze. They caught him in 12 and 1, but he probably went a little faster because we broke him off at the five and a half and we worked him a sixteenth past the wire, but it was so foggy.

"He really may have gone a tick faster, but the time isn't as important as how well he did it," added Casse. "Adam said he couldn't get him pulled up until the three-eighths pole. He's doing very well and is holding his weight good. I told Mr. Oxley that I don't know where he fits with this group, but we couldn't ask him to be any better than he is right now."

Beschizza, a native of England, rode his first race in the U.S. in 2015 and will pick up his first Kentucky Derby mount with Enforceable.

"Adam has been a part of our team for a couple years and Mr. Oxley really likes Adam a lot. We have a lot of faith in Adam," said Casse. "He works a lot of horses for us and we think he deserves a shot. I can tell you I won't be going into the Derby being worried about my rider. I'm very confident in his ability."

Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms, the late-running Tapit grey won the Grade 3 Lecomte in January at Fair Grounds. He enters the second leg of the Triple Crown from a closing fourth in the Grade 2 Blue Grass on July 11 when racing from a four-month layoff.

Gary Barber's New York-bred juvenile Make Mischief, a debut winner at Belmont in June, has completed the exacta in both the Grade 3 Schuylerville in July and Grade 2 Adirondack on August 12 at the Spa.

Casse said the Into Mischief filly, bred in the Empire State by Avanti Stable, would target the $150,000 Seeking the Ante, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for New York-breds on September 4 while the Oxley-owned Beautiful Memories, an impressive debut winner at Churchill who stumbled and was pulled up in the Schuylerville, is pointed to the Grade 1, $250,000 Spinaway, a seven-furlong sprint on September 6.

"More Mischief will go to the New York-bred stake and Beautiful Memories will go to the Spinaway," said Casse. "We'd like to win a stake with Make Mischief and she fits that race being a state bred."

A $285,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Preferred New York-bred Yearling Sale, Make Mischief is out of the Speightstown mare Speightful Lady.

Tracy Farmer's Perfect Alibi, who captured last year's Grade 1 Spinaway for Casse, is headed to Laurel Park following a fourth-place finish last out in the Grade 1 Longines Test on August 8.

The dark bay daughter of Sky Mesa enjoyed a productive juvenile campaign posting a record of three wins and two seconds from six starts, including a score in the Grade 2 Adirondack ahead of her Spinaway coup.

Casse said Perfect Alibi will target the $100,000 Weber City Miss, a 1 1/16-mile test on September 7 at Laurel Park.

"She's not easy to train and doesn't put a lot into her works," said Casse. "Last year, she was probably ahead of the game. She ran early and got a couple races and was in peak form at Saratoga last year. This year, with everything that's happened, it's tough to get to the top level."

Perfect Alibi worked a half-mile in 48.77 Sunday on the Saratoga main track.

Bred in Kentucky by Pin Oak Stud, Perfect Alibi opened her campaign with a fifth in the Grade 1 Acorn in June at Belmont.

Like Oak Plantation's Florida homebred Tap It to Win will make his next start in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam.

The Tapit ridgling graduated at second asking last August when sprinting six furlongs on the Saratoga main track and has shown versatility this season with a first-out win sprinting at Gulfstream Park in May ahead of a romping five-length score in a 1 1/16-mile allowance tilt at Belmont on June 4 that garnered a career-best 97 Beyer.

Following a pace-setting fifth in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, Tap It to Win returned to sprinting last out in the seven-furlong Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens presented by Runhappy in which the bay completed the exacta behind Echo Town.

"When the dust clears, I think he's going to be a really good 4-year-old," said Casse. "We'll give him one more try against 3-year-olds and see how it goes and then maybe give him a little time off. He's a nice horse and has a lot of talent. He only has to improve a little and grow up a little and he'll be able to play with anybody."

Sir Winston, the 2019 Belmont Stakes winner, continues to train at Saratoga while Casse searches for the right spot for a return to action with the conditioner saying the Champions Day Marathon, a 12-furlong test on September 1 at Churchill Downs and the Miner's Mark, also at 1 1/2-miles, on September 18 at Belmont are under consideration.

"Right now, we're concentrating on the Marathon at Churchill," said Casse.

Sir Winston, who worked a bullet half-mile in 47.09 last week on the Saratoga main, posted another sharp half-mile breeze Sunday in 48.55. The Awesome Again colt was off-the-board last out in the Grade 2 Suburban on July 4 at Belmont.

Long Weekend to stick with familiar distance in G2 Amsterdam

Long Weekend will return to the site of his lone previous graded stakes start when he competes in the Grade 2, $150,000 Amsterdam for sophomores on Saturday at Saratoga.

The ultra-consistent Tom Amoss trainee is 4-1-0 in six career starts, with his only off-the-board effort coming in his second start last year when sixth in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special. After getting six months off, Long Weekend won his first three starts to begin his 3-year-old campaign and placed second last out in the Gold Fever going six furlongs over a sloppy and sealed Belmont Park main track on July 10.

The Amsterdam, one of four graded stakes on the Saturday card, will mark the fifth consecutive race Long Weekend has run at six furlongs this year.

"We've made a concerted effort to stay at six furlongs with Long Weekend this year, so this race is a good spot for us," Amoss said.

Owned by B.C.W.T., Long Weekend won his debut in June 2019 sprinting five furlongs at Churchill Downs before moving up to stakes company. The respite following that effort allowed the Majesticperfection colt to mature and fill out, and he responded by wiring a field of optional claimers by 6 3/4 lengths upon his return in February at Sam Houston.

Returning to stakes company, Long Weekend posted back-to-back front-running victories at Oaklawn Park, notching a 4 3/4-length score in the Gazebo on March 21 and edging Echo Town by a head in the Bachelor on April 25. Last month, he crossed the wire third in the Gold Fever but was elevated to second when potential Amsterdam rival Wondrwherecraigis was disqualified for interference and placed third.

"We were a little disappointed with how things turned out at Belmont with the track condition and not breaking well that day, which was very uncharacteristic of him," Amoss said. "We thought he fought hard but was certainly compromised right at the start of the race. We're looking to make amends for that."

Long Weekend registered his final breeze for the Amsterdam yesterday, working four furlongs in 48.03 seconds over the Saratoga main track. That was his second work at the Spa since shipping from his base at Churchill earlier this month.

"He likes the track. He got across it well," Amoss said.

Amoss said Luis Saez will be aboard Long Weekend in the Amsterdam.

Long Weekend, purchased for $225,000 at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sale, is from the female family of Grade 1-winning millionaires Paulassilverlining and Dads Caps.

Ghost Hollow Farm's Risky Mandate has already raced twice at Saratoga this meet - running third in the seven-furlong Shine Again on July 17 and second in an optional claimer on August 13 going 1 1/8 miles - and returned to the work tab yesterday, breezing four furlongs in 48.49.

"We'll see. We haven't made any decisions yet on what we're doing with her," Amoss said. "In the next week, we'll have some idea of what we're doing next. As far as her race schedule, it's a work in progress."

The 4-year-old Strong Mandate filly won the first two starts of her career, bursting onto the scene with a 6 1/4-length debut victory in June 2019 at Churchill and following with a 3 1/2-length triumph a month later against allowance company at Saratoga. She capped her 3-year-old season with a third-place effort in the Grade 2 Prioress last August in her last Saratoga start.

After a 10-month break, Risky Mandate returned to run second in June at Churchill before earning blacktype in consecutive Saratoga appearances.

"I think that the time off helped," Amoss said. "She was a physically big 2-year-old and sometimes when they're like that, they need a little time to grow into that body. I think she did between her 2-and-3-year-old year; she grew into her body pretty well."

Cross Country Pick 5 with Del Mar returns $5,808, handles $238K

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5 featuring action from Saratoga Race Course and Del Mar returned $5,808.75 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The sequence's total pool was $238,595.

Offering four graded stakes in total, the wager started in Race 5 at the Spa, when Nautilus won a seven-furlong dirt sprint for maidens. Trained by Brad Cox, Nautilus rallied from third in the stretch to outlast Likeable by a head, returning $7.40 on a $2 win wager. Ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, Nautilus completed the course in a final time of 1:24.79.

Saratoga was also home to the start of the sequence's stakes races, with Halladay posting a gate-to-wire victory in the Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave going one mile on the inner turf in Race 9. The Todd Pletcher trainee, off at 5-1, led through every point of call and outkicked defending Fourstardave-winner Got Stormy in deep stretch for a 1 ¼-length score. Ridden by Luis Saez, Halladay paid $12.60.

Del Mar hosted the final three legs, starting when Red King bested United by a head to win the Grade 2, $200,000 Del Mar Handicap in Race 7. Trained by Philip D'Amato and ridden by Umberto Rispoli, Red King, at 4-1, upset the favorite United going 1 3/8 miles on the turf course, posting a final time of 2:15.75.

In Race 9, Red Lark became the biggest priced winner of the sequence, winning the Grade 1, $250,000 Del Mar Oaks at 19-1. The 1 1/8-mile turf contested for sophomore fillies saw the Irish-bred Red Lark, conditioned by Patrick Gallagher and ridden by Drayden Van Dyke, pay $40.20 after posting a final time of 1:48.64 to best the 10-horse field.

The wager's feature came in the finale, with Maximum Security earning yet another trip to the winner's circle after a three-length triumph in the Grade 1, $500,000 Pacific Classic in Race 10. The race, a "Win and You're In" for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on November 7 at Keeneland, marked the 11th time in 12 starts Maximum Security has crossed the wire first. He has officially won 10 of those races [after being disqualified in last year's Kentucky Derby], with his only other non-win coming with a second-place finish in last year's Pegasus at Monmouth Park. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and ridden by Abel Cedillo, Maximum Security, the 2-5 favorite, drew away from runner-up Sharp Samurai, returning $2.80.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.