Was it nice to see people traveling to and fro after all those weeks of quarantine? Saturday’s Belmont Stakes is one of those times. His average odds have shortened since the race was announced from +267 to +175 and now -142. Jockey Manuel Franco rides atop Tiz the Law #8 crossing the finish line to win during the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 20, 2020 in Elmont, New York. Tiz the Law is the best horse in the Belmont, period. The favorite, Tiz the Law won in near silence, as fans were not permitted to attend the race. Tiz the Law will go into the record books as the winner of the 2020 Belmont Stakes. A first-time winner at Saratoga in August, Tiz the Law followed up with a four-length score in the Grade 1 Champagne in October at Belmont. Someone told the cameraman: “You know what? “Because when they’re all there, your horse gets really nervous,” says Tagg. Digital Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our. It did not matter. But sitting in the empty prime box seats near the finish, surrounded by a few reporters, New York Racing Association officials wearing “NYRA Bets” face masks and a sea of empty chairs, I couldn’t help but feel I wasn’t watching such a jewel. The bugler Sam Grossman warming up before playing the Call to Post. I usually arrive five hours before post-time to grab a seat: today, with NYRA wanting to keep bodies at the track to a bare minimum, I had my own table. Tiz the Law is a New York-bred colt owned by Sackatoga Stable and trained by the 82-year-old Barclay Tagg. Tiz the Law wins Belmont Stakes to kick off Triple Crown For the first time since 1882, a New York-bred horse won the Belmont, crossing the finish line in front of eerily empty grandstands. So they got into the horse business. Sometimes, a trainer or exercise rider will emerge to offer some quotes. Knowlton had landed in Saratoga Springs as a health care consultant in the early 1980s, hence the name. Tiz the Law - 2020 - The Belmont Stakes. You have to slither through throngs of revelers to keep up. The empty seats. © 2021 TIME USA, LLC. A group of jockeys had taken a knee to protest systemic racism (expect a second, stronger wave of athlete activism). A press rep told me to stay away from the barn. Subscribe for just $18. This is your last free article. Thank you for reading TIME. Media may not be able to bring athletes as close to the public as before. Subscribe for just $18. You can unsubscribe at any time. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Especially in a year when a Triple Crown is on the line. By John Newby - June 20, 2020 06:53 pm EDT. The last one to win this race was Forester in 1882. Watch later. You have 1 free article left. That America’s first major sporting event took place on the border of New York City, which as been decimated by COVID-19, with over 17,000 deaths due to the disease, is lost on no one. 0 Saturday evening, 10 horses headed to the track for the long-awaited return of the Triple Crown. TIZ THE LAW AND @jockeyfranco WIN THE $1,000,000 BELMONT STAKES! Tiz the Law was clearly nonplussed and Tagg might have another Triple Crown contender; he came heartbreakingly close to ending the Triple Crowd drought in 2003 with Funny Cide, who finished third at Belmont. Jack Knowlton of Sackatoga Stable tweeted Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020, “We are beyond grateful for the time we had with him.” The … “I’m just glad I lived long enough to get a horse like this,” said Tagg, who became the oldest trainer to win the Belmont. Kinda. On the drive from my home in the Bronx, I got stuck in Saturday afternoon Long Island traffic. Tiz the Law (8), with jockey Manny Franco up, crosses the finish line to win the152nd running of the Belmont Stakes horse race, Saturday, June … Tiz the Law more than lived up to the hype, sitting in third for most of the 1 and 1/8 mile race—Belmont is usually 1.5 miles—before kicking away down the stretch to win by 3 and three-quarter lengths. No buffets in the dining room. Tiz the Law, ridden by the jockey Manuel Franco, crossed the finish line to win the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. More seasoned riders wanted the mount on Tiz the Law, but Tagg stayed with Franco. “Thanks Andy,” Franco yelled back. (Tim Wilkin/Times... Sackatoga Stable partners root for Tiz the Law as he wins the Belmont Saturday. On Saturday, however, Belmont Park was not so grand. Please attempt to sign up again. They should — back in 2003 another New York-bred by the name of Funny Cide won the Derby and the Preakness before having a Triple Crown bid denied right here at this grand old racetrack on Long Island. The crowd is what I’ll always cherish at the Belmont Stakes. Then as the horse emerges from the barn and trots to the saddling paddock, and then through the tunnel to the track, a scrum of reporters usually follows behind, sometimes popping up in the background of the TV shots. Tagg was not complaining. I felt the noise move through my system. Subscribe for just $18. The group had a party at Pennell’s Restaurant in Saratoga. Tiz the Law Wins Belmont Stakes 2020. He has won four of his five career races and has looked strong going two for two this year. Tiz the Law cruised down the stretch, easily claiming the win by nearly four lengths with a time of 1:46.53. After covering two Triple Crown letdowns— Big Brown, who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2008 but failed to finish the mile-and-a-half Belmont, and California Chrome, who in 2014 finished the Belmont tied for fourth—I had the good fortune to be standing near the backstretch rail in 2015, when American Pharaoh broke the 37-year Triple Crown drought. Jockey Manuel Franco rides atop Tiz the Law #8 crossing the finish line to win during the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 20, 2020 in Elmont, New York. “We give them to Barclay because he knows what to do with them.” The group has employed Tagg as their trainer for 25 years. Even better, Tiz the Law was bred in New York and is owned, trained and ridden by New Yorkers. Tiz the Law won the Belmont Stakes in front of empty stands on Saturday, clinching the first leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. He did so by entrusting a horse of a lifetime to 25-year-old Manny Franco, who would be riding in his first Belmont. The Breeders’ Cup World Championships are always on the first weekend of November. We don’t want reporters to pop on the TV show, and give the impression we’re letting extraneous people hanging around in a pandemic. New York - bred Tiz the Law is looking like the one to beat in the Belmont Stakes on June 20th. The shocker is his competition. Tiz the Law is undefeated in four races on fast tracks; the only blemish on his record is a third-place showing on a sloppy Churchill Downs surface in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes back in … Blue for The New York Times After COVID, why go back? Life is strange these days. Unfortunately, Empire Maker upset their bid to sweep the series in the Belmont Stakes. Shopping. It was the fifth victory in six starts for the son of Constitution, and the $535,000 first-place check pushed his career earnings past $1.4 million. But, safety first. “Actually it’s very nice,” said Tagg, who’s 82, afterwards at a socially distant winner’s press conference, about the dearth of fans. They do not spend a lot of money on horses and they spread the risk among partners. We wear face masks, stand six feet apart, and have reluctantly become experts at video conferencing into meetings. Tiz the Law - 2020 - The Belmont Stakes - YouTube. I just happened to be standing on set. Lots of them, loudly. When the 152nd Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets was finally decided late in the day June 20, the outcome was rather predictable.. Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law lived up to every single one of his press clippings and pulled away to a decisive, 3 ¾-length victory for jockey Manny Franco and trainer Barclay Tagg in the $1 million stakes as a 4-5 favorite. The Belmont had not been good to New York-breds in the past. Sports media coverage will also evolve. Credit... Victor J. It wasn’t quite the post position trainer Barclay Tagg wanted for Tiz the Law. Copy link. It marked the return of big-time sports to New York, but on a smaller scale allowed by the coronavirus pandemic. Still, it wasn’t far off for the colt who on Wednesday was made the early 6-5 favorite for the Belmont Stakes. That's just one of the many unusual aspects of the 146th running of the Derby. In becoming the first New York-bred horse to win New York’s most celebrated race since Forester in 1882, Tiz the Law made 82-year-old trainer Barclay Tagg a first-time Belmont winner and evoked the memory of another New York colt, and less likely champion, Funny Cide, who also won the first race of the Triple Crown with a Kentucky Derby victory in 2003. Mostly, you’re just standing around sweating in the June sun. It’s a satisfying psychic win for the city and state. You have a limited number of free articles. Within the last couple of weeks his primary challengers have disappeared. Gov. https://www.msn.com/.../tiz-the-law-wins-2020-belmont-stakes/ar-BB15LJnx 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. Just watch the race from an observation area, or stay in the press box. As Tiz the Law pounded down the stretch like he was bouncing from one trampoline to another, Tagg understood how fortunate he was to have another shot at the Triple Crown. He is 82 now, so much a creature of routine that he told the NBC television presenter to hurry up and get the trophy presentation underway. Tiz the Law will be remembered as the horse who won the first American crown jewel sporting event to return since COVID-19 shut down sports. As Tiz the Law—the first New York bred horse to win Belmont since Forester in 1882—crossed the finish, you could hear a smattering of applause and exhortations. The ones that don’t might run a little better than they usually do that day. The only thing missing? Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz The Law already has won the Belmont Stakes. Tiz the Law on Saturday won the 152nd annual Belmont Stakes, the first leg in this year's Triple Crown. “We buy New York-breds,” Knowlton said. Magazines, Inside a Very Surreal, Very Symbolic Belmont Stakes, as a Sports Crown Jewel Returns. Please try again later. Tagg, the trainer, didn’t mind the silence (especially after a night in which he said he heard fireworks at 2 a.m., part of a larger documented nationwide trend of random fireworks usage). He ran the mile-and-an-eighth distance in 1:46:53 and paid his backers $3.60 for a $2 bet. Some 100,000 fans filling the grandstands to cheer. I respect and understand the precaution. I pay particular mind to the barn of the Triple Crown hopeful: there, you can try to get a sense of the horse’s mindset a few hours before the race. An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. You have 2 free articles left. The race, traditionally the last leg of the Triple Crown, instead kicked off the series for the first time in history on Saturday. “I can't lie to you,” he said. Tiz the law is a 3 year-old bay colt by Constitution out of the dam Tizfiz. Such restrictions, however, might last longer than we may like. Info. Favorites: Tiz The Law. Then, nothing but the sound of birds chirping. Now, 138 years later, Tiz the Law graced the winner’s circle of the Big Apple’s biggest race. Subscribe for just $18. (Seth Wenig/AP) I’m not trying to be a jerk about it.” Why did he appreciate the quiet? Constitution is a multiple Grade 1 winner of four races in eight starts with earnings of $1,031,596. He had work to do. “But I knew what I had underneath me. It is not surprising Tiz The Law is the favorite at the Belmont Stakes. Barclay Tagg, 82, is the oldest trainer to win the Belmont Stakes. In six career starts, Tiz … He is a son of Tapit, the leading sire in 2014, 2015, and 2016 with a stud fee of $300,000. As the TV crews awaited a return from commercial break, Franco and Tiz the Law’s trainer, Barclay Tagg, stood in awkward silence in the Winner’s Circle. Magazines, Digital Some 90,000 fans, many of them New Yorkers in various states of inebriation, crammed into the grandstand, lined up at the betting windows, spilling into the saddling paddock. Share. Typically, I roam around the barn area for a few hours before the race, sneezing and wheezing along the way (I’m allergic to horses). The Belmont is being run at 1 1/8 miles instead of a mile and a half and the traditional third jewel is leading off the series for the first time. He quickly went to the lead and continued to widen his margin down the stretch, winning by ​4 ⁄4 lengths while under a hold. How about Barclay Tagg? 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 with coolers full of beer. So it was kind of nice, if even normal, to watch the racehorse Tiz the Law turn in a transcendent performance in the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes. 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. “Way to go Manny,” someone yelled to Franco from back in the stands as the jockey took his spot in the winner’s circle, another sentence that he’d never hear on a normal loud Belmont Day. I’m in good hands with Barclay.”. Tiz the Law, ridden by the jockey Manuel Franco, crossed the finish line to win the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. I can’t imagine us returning to a day where reporters crowd, dozens deep, into, say, an NBA locker room to toss questions at LeBron James. And there were no betting windows open. Sports are trying to come back in stutter-steps. 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. (A fool’s errand for an allergic lay person like myself, really.) Instead of 100,000 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. When the coronavirus 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. Tiz the Law's first race was on August 8, 2019, at Saratoga in a maiden special weight race for New York-bred two-year-olds. The Belmont Stakes, which traditionally follows the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, kicked off the 2020 iteration and fired up viewers. “He’s about, ‘all right, let’s go.'”. Before the pandemic, it was hard to argue that such practices were in the best interest of public health: let’s allow potentially sick and germ-y reporters to crowd around one of the most valuable athletes in the world, to ask him how he felt in the third quarter. By signing up you are agreeing to our, 2 Racehorses Die in 'Freak Accident' Collision at Del Mar, How Black Filmmakers Are Reclaiming Their History Onscreen. Today, no deal. Five of them were small businessmen and one a teacher, and their careers had been good to them. And nervous. Franco, 25, won the first Belmont Stakes he competed in. Guess I’ll take that dose of normalcy, though, any way I can get it. A scratchy recording of Frank Sinatra belting “New York, New York” accompanied the 10-horse field to the track. Andrew M. Cuomo gave the traditional “Riders Up” call via a television screen. On Saturday, Franco was grateful. Tiz the Law cost $110,000 at auction. “This guy makes it easy,” says Tagg. @nytbreeders pic.twitter.com/2z6SHNeldM — Belmont Stakes (@BelmontStakes) June 20, 2020 Tiz The Law, the Belmont Stakes winner and the prohibitive favorite Saturday, finishes second at the Kentucky Derby. Tiz the Law #8, ridden by jockey Manuel Franco leads the field to the finish line to win the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 20, 2020 in Elmont, New York. You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. Write to Sean Gregory at sean.gregory@time.com. Tiz the Law kicked off the 2020 Triple Crown series with a four-length victory in the Belmont Stakes. That euphoria could not seem more distant this year. But it’s just nice to see no commotion for a change. It’s like we’re filming a movie.” He was right: post-COVID sports are a video production. 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