While Saturday’s $1-million Runhappy Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., offers qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby (100-40-20-10 to the top four finishers), this Grade 1, mile and a quarter fixture is anything but a “prep.”
Barclay Tagg has made no secret of his desire to win this “Mid-Summer Derby,” and Tiz the Law has not missed a beat for him since winning the G1 Belmont Stakes on June 20 – the opening leg of the Triple Crown in this upside-down year of the coronavirus pandemic.
But to win the Travers, the Constitution colt will have to earn it. Three-time Travers-winning trainer Bob Baffert has shipped unbeaten Uncle Chuck in from California, and the Uncle Mo colt has drawn comparisons to Arrogate, the 2016 Travers winner for Baffert who set a track record of 1:59.36 winning by 13 1/2 lengths.
Country Grammer and Caracaro, the 1-2 finishers in the G3 Peter Pan at Saratoga on July 16, could also make things difficult for Tiz the Law.
In this edition of the Triple Crown News Minute, Ray Paulick and news editor Chelsea Hackbarth go through the field of eight 3-year-olds to determine whether any of them are capable of fighting ‘The Law’ and upsetting Tagg’s even-money morning line favorite.
Watch the latest Triple Crown News Minute below:
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