Tiz the Law won the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes to kick off a belated and unusual Triple Crown season.
The Belmont Stakes, traditionally the last leg of the Triple Crown, instead kicked off the series for the first time in history on Saturday. The race marked the return of big-time sports to New York, but on a smaller-scale allowed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Tiz the Law is a New York-bred colt owned by Sackatoga Stable and trained by the 82-year-old Barclay Tagg. Does that sound familiar? In 2003, Sackatoga and Tagg won the Derby and the Preakness with another New York-bred named Funny Cide.
Tagg, 82, is the oldest trainer to win the Belmont Stakes.
Sackatoga Stable was born in Sackets Harbor, N.Y., when six old high school buddies sat on the front porch of the village’s former mayor and acknowledged they were approaching midlife crises. Five of them were small businessmen and one a teacher, and their careers had been good to them. So they got in the horse business. The stable’s managing partner, Jack Knowlton, landed in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., as a health care consultant in the early 1980’s, hence the name.
The group, now with additional partners, captured the imagination of sports fans by arriving at each Triple Crown race in an old yellow school bus and coolers full of beer. Unfortunately, Empire Maker upset their bid to sweep the series in the Belmont Stakes.
It was the fifth victory in six starts for Tiz the Law and the $535,000 first place check pushed his career earnings past $1.4 million. He ran the mile and an eighth distance in 1:46.53 and paid his backers $3.60 for a $2 bet.
The Belmont had not been good to New York-breds in the past. The last one to win this race was Forester in 1882.
Instead of 150,000 fans filling the grandstands, there was only a bare-bones staff of grooms, trainers and assistant starters — less than 100 in all, or just enough to get the horses and their jockeys through the day. All wore masks or bandannas and gloves all week, making the paddock look like a cross between a medical center and a waiting room for desperadoes.
“If you do not have a shank or bucket in your hand, you can’t come in,” said Pat McKenna, spokesman for the New York Racing Association. “Only essential personnel.”
Essential included Sam “The Bugler” Grossman who sounded the Call to Post before each of the 12-races.
But there were no beer or hot dogs. No buffets in the dining room. And there were no betting windows open.
When the coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to move the Kentucky Derby from May 2 to Sept. 5 and the Preakness Stakes from May 16 to Oct. 3, New York racing officials had little choice but to run the race in June. The Breeders’ Cup World Championships are always on the first weekend of November.
But the Belmont was hardly the Test of the Champion that horse racing aficionados have come to know and love.
Instead of its grueling mile-and-a-half distance, the race was shortened to a mile and an eighth and the start was placed at the end of the turn on the backstretch, which meant horses and riders only had to navigate one turn.
But at least New York was in the sporting spotlight once again and, for a few hours, we got to see what we had missed.
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Tiz the Law Wins an Unusual Belmont Stakes - The New York Times
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