Tag: Barclay Tagg

Junior Alvarado and Doswell glide to victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes. This turf test is often a good preview for the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf next month at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos)

Fort Lauderdale Upset Winner Doswell Could Fly to Pegasus Turf

Last year, Doswell followed Largent across the Fort Lauderdale Stakes finish line, falling short in the Grade 2 prep for next month’s Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. But the 5-year-old Giant’s Causeway progeny went gate-to-wire Saturday, capturing the Fort Lauderdale at Gulfstream Park. That puts the gelding on the radar […]

Jolie Olimpica's last victory came 14 months ago in the Grade 2 Monrovia Stakes at Santa Anita. She is one of the favorites in the opening leg of Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5: the Grade 2 Nassau Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Cross Country Pick 5 Features Familiar Names, International Flavor

Familiar names such as Jolie Olimpica, Split Then Double and Merveilleux, along with promising newcomers like Chileno, Watasha and Volcanic play their parts in Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 wager. This week’s New York Racing Association’s Cross Country Pick 5 comes with international flavor. The wager encompasses races from Saratoga, […]

Last time out, Shivaree set the Tampa Bay Downs stakes record en route to winning the Marion County Florida Sire Stakes. The runner-up in last year's Florida Derby returns to action Saturday in the Fred Hooper Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Image: SV Photography)

The Pegasus Isn’t the Only Stakes Race This Weekend

Saturday brings us the first two Grade 1 stakes races of 2021: the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and the Pegasus World Cup Turf, coming to you from Gulfstream Park. The Florida track captures this weekend’s stakes spotlight with those two high-profile races, along with five other graded stakes on its […]

This image of Tiz the Law pulling away from his foes in the stretch played out for the sixth and final time in August's Travers Stakes. The four-time Grade 1 winner and Belmont Stakes champion suddenly retired Wednesday after suffering bone bruses in his leg. (Image: Spencer Tulis/The Saratogian)

Tiz the Law Prematurely Retired After Injury During Workout

Reigning Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law was retired to stud Wednesday, ending one of 2020’s most storied campaigns due to a veterinarian’s diagnosis. That diagnosis revealed bone bruises to his front leg bone. Those bruises were discovered when assistant trainer Robin Smullen noticed Tiz the Law […]

Tiz the Law will open his 2021 season at the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park. He'll do so with new rider John Velazquez aboard. (Image: Albany Times Union)

Tiz The Law Rides Into 2021 with a New Jockey: John Velazquez

Five days after Tiz the Law came home a disappointing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, ownership group Sackatoga Stable announced that Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez replaces Manny Franco in the irons for the colt’s 2021 season. That season begins at the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at […]

Improbable was nothing short of awesome in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes. The 5/2 favorite rides into the Breeders' Cup Classic on a three-race win streak. (Image: Alex Evers)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: Picking a Winner in this All-Star Field is a Puzzle

If you’re grasping to understand how good the field is for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic truly is, it’s easiest to picture what an All-Star horse race would look like. The Mid-fall Classic, as it were. If the Mid-fall Classic offered a $6 million purse, two Triple Crown race winners, […]

Finishing second in the Kentucky Derby took more out of Tiz the Law than his victories did. He'll skip the Preakness Stakes and focus on the Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 7. (Image: Jamie Squire/Getty)

Tiz the Law Passes on Preakness, Bound for Breeders’ Cup

To the surprise of few, standout 3-year-old Tiz the Law will bypass the Preakness Stakes and train for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, according to his primary owner, Jack Knowlton. The managing partner of Sackatoga Stable, the Saratoga Springs-area consortium which owns Tiz the Law, Knowlton confirmed his prize colt will […]

After his 1 1/4-length Kentucky Derby loss to Authentic, Tiz the Law stares at a future that may not include the Preakness Stakes. (Image: Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

After Kentucky Derby Loss, Tiz the Law May Skip Preakness

Tiz the Law came out of the Kentucky Derby perfectly fine, save for his aura of invincibility and his Triple Crown hopes. And, according to trainer Barclay Tagg, that aura may not renew at the Preakness Stakes. Tagg is non-committal about his prize trainee’s future plans, but intimated he may […]

Tiz the Law and exercise rider Heather Smullen turned in a strong pre-Travers workout last Saturday.  The Belmont Stakes champion is even-money to win Saturday's Travers Stakes. (Image: Skip Dickstein/ Albany Times Union)

Upstarts, Baffert Star All Chasing Travers Stakes Favorite Tiz the Law

The reigning Belmont Stakes victor is in the field as your deserved race favorite. So is one member of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s 3-year-old Derby Legion of Doom. And so are a wealth of upstarts seeking to make Saturday’s Grade 1 Travers Stakes another trip into Saratoga’s “Graveyard […]

Tiz the Law opens as the even-money favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. He is 3-for-3 this year, including this decisive Belmont Stakes win in June. (Image: The Saratogian)

More Distance, Time Off: None of it Fazes Travers Favorite Tiz the Law

He’s back and he’s back as the even-money – for now — favorite. And lest you think Tiz the Law can’t handle the 1 ¼-mile distance he faces for the first time in Saturday’s Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, trainer Barclay Tagg is here to disabuse you of that […]