Pedigree fun facts: Tiztastic

Mar 30, 2025 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Louisiana Derby star Tiztastic is closely inbred to Tapit (Photo by Hodges Photography)

Tiz the Law was toppled as the odds-on favorite in the 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1), but a son from his very first crop, Tiztastic, could give him compensation at Churchill Downs.

The most dramatic element in Tiztastic’s pedigree is the close duplication of the great patriarch Tapit. Tiztastic’s great-grandsire in the direct paternal line, Tapit appears even nearer as his maternal grandsire. This pattern is described as 3×2 inbreeding, reflecting Tapit’s presence in the third generation (in the top half of the pedigree) and in the second generation (on the bottom half).

Here are Tiztastic’s pedigree fun facts:

Sire Tiz the Law turned the Belmont/Travers double during the pandemic-scrambled year.

Tiz the Law might have been disadvantaged by the postponement of the 2020 Kentucky Derby to Labor Day Weekend, considering his sparkling form through the spring and summer. He rattled off four straight wins, all by daylight – the Holy Bull (G3), Florida Derby (G1), the Belmont (G1) that was trimmed to 1 1/8 miles, and the Travers (G1) held earlier in August than usual. Unfortunately, his skein was halted a month later when he was runner-up in the Kentucky Derby, rebuffed by Authentic.

Then again, maybe Tiz the Law wasn’t particularly fond of Churchill anyway. He’d been overturned as the 3-5 favorite in the previous year’s Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), where he wound up third on a sloppy track. That marked his first career loss after an impressive Saratoga debut and a romp in the Champagne (G1).

Grandsire Constitution would have been a prime player in the 2014 Derby.

Tiz the Law’s sire, Constitution, was unbeaten through his first three starts at Gulfstream Park capped by a hard-fought decision in the 2014 Florida Derby. He never got his chance at the Kentucky Derby due to an injury that sidelined him until later that fall.

Constitution had a limited four-year-old campaign too, but he did add one more major to his resume. Returning to Gulfstream in 2015, he scored a front-running victory in the Donn H. (G1) over the same 1 1/8-mile trip as his Florida Derby heroics.

Tiz the Law comes from the family of Favorite Trick and Citizen Bull.

Tiz the Law’s dam (mother), Tizfiz, was primarily a turf campaigner who earned her graded laurel in the 2009 San Gorgonio H. (G2) at Santa Anita. By Hall of Famer Tiznow, still the only two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner, Tizfiz is out of a mare by 1994 Kentucky Derby upsetter Go for Gin.

Tizfiz is a direct matrilineal descendant of Evil Elaine, best known for producing the historically significant two-year-old Favorite Trick. Unbeaten in an eight-race campaign culminating in the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), Favorite Trick was voted Horse of the Year. Since the Eclipse Awards were established a half-century ago, only Secretariat had been honored as Horse of the Year at two.

Evil Elaine is also the ancestress of reigning champion two-year-old colt Citizen Bull, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and current Derby contender.

Tiztastic’s pedigree illustrates the influence of Tapit via both sons and daughters.

Constitution is one high-profile conduit for Tapit’s sire line. A pair of his colts placed in U.S. classics in 2024, Belmont near-misser Mindframe and Preakness (G1) third Catching Freedom. Statesman is arguably Constitution’s best remaining hope this term, after the recent losses by John Hancock and Admiral Dennis. That’s not even getting into Constitution’s flurry of classic performers in Chile, conceived when he shuttles there for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season.

Tapit’s male line is secure, however, through the efforts of multiple sons. Frosted has current Derby candidate Flood Zone, the Gotham (G3) hero set for the UAE Derby (G2); Tonalist sired $14.9 million-earner Country Grammer, whose signature win came in the 2022 Dubai World Cup (G1); Race Day is responsible for $6.9 million-earner White Abarrio, star of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic and 2025 Pegasus World Cup (G1); Cupid’s quiver includes turf millionaire Carson’s Run; Tapiture, Mohaymen, Trappe Shot, Concord Point, Flashback, and Tapwrit have also done their part, along with Tapizar, sire of 2018 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and two-time Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) champion Monomoy Girl.

Those are only the established ones. When you factor in Tapit’s younger stallion sons, from unbeaten 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline to two-time champion Essential Quality and blueblood Tacitus, the outlook is rosy indeed.

Tapit’s daughters have grown into prominence too, as outlined in the “Pedigree fun facts” for American Promise. Aside from that Virginia Derby romper, Tapit factors as the maternal grandfather of several others who have competed on the 2025 Derby trail – Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) victor Final Gambit, East Avenue, Poster, Garamond, Burning Glory, and Aviator Gui – as well as Oaks hopefuls Tenma and Muhimma.

Tiztastic is a half-brother to the talented filly Interpolate.

Tiztastic is out of the unraced Tapit mare Keesha, who also foaled Grade 2-placed stakes scorer Interpolate (by Into Mischief). Trained by Chad Brown for Klaravich Stables, she never raced beyond about seven furlongs in her seven-start career.

Interpolate swept to a 2 1/2-length victory in the 2023 Ruthless S. at Aqueduct. Next seen in the Beaumont (G2) at Keeneland that spring, she closed fast, but a fraction too late, and missed by a neck. Interpolate didn’t get as close in her remaining two outings, checking in fourth in the Victory Ride (G3) at Saratoga and seventh in the Charles Town Oaks (G3).

Tiztastic’s mother is a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup runner-up Shumoos.

Keesha is, in turn, a half-sister to the very precocious speedster Shumoos, a notable juvenile of 2011 on both sides of the Atlantic. After crushing males in her debut at Haydock, Shumoos was the hot favorite in the Queen Mary (G2) at Royal Ascot, only to miss by a short head. She went on to justify favoritism in the Sirenia (G3) on Kempton’s Polytrack.

In her stateside bow in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint on the Churchill dirt, Shumoos rallied for an excellent second to Bob Baffert’s star Secret Circle. She ultimately continued her career in Southern California with the late Ben Cecil, placing in a trio of stakes led by the 2013 Las Flores (G3).

Tiztastic’s grandmother is by supersire Storm Cat.

Shumoos and Keesha are both daughters of the Storm Cat mare Wile Cat. Although we often think of Storm Cat’s legacy in terms of sire lines, especially through his scions Into Mischief, Giant’s Causeway, and Scat Daddy, his daughters contribute mightily to his legacy as well.

To give only a sampling, Storm Cat mares have produced Speightstown, Honor Code, Lord Kanaloa, Loves Only You and her brother Real Steel (sire of Forever Young), Kizuna, Gleneagles, Churchill, Study of Man, Folklore, Close Hatches, and Misty for Me (dam of U S Navy Flag and Roly Poly). Folklore is the ancestress of Japanese Triple Crown winner Contrail, and others with Storm Cat lurking further in the maternal line include Flightline, Arcangelo, Elite Power, and Idiomatic.

Great-grandmother Strategic Maneuver was a top two-year-old filly.

Wile Cat is out of Strategic Maneuver, a multiple Grade 1 winner who went 5-for-6 as a juvenile in 1993. She was perfect through her first four starts, capturing the Schuylerville (G2) and Spinaway (G1) at Saratoga and routing the Matron (G1) by 12 1/2 lengths in the Belmont Park slop.

Strategic Maneuver was bet down to 2-5 to extend her streak in the Frizette (G1), but she succumbed to a speed duel and trailed behind future Hall of Famer Heavenly Prize. While Strategic Maneuver rebounded in the Demoiselle (G2), her sophomore season was anticlimactic.

During her broodmare career, Strategic Maneuver produced 2004 La Canada (G2) heroine Cat Fighter, a full sister to Wile Cat, and Ishiguru, a Group 3-winning sprinter in Ireland. Ishiguru’s full sister, Danzig Withwolves, is the ancestress of Baby Max, who recently competed on the Road to the Kentucky Derby at Turfway Park.

Ancestor Cryptoclearance factored in all three jewels of the 1987 Triple Crown.

Strategic Maneuver is by the redoubtable closer Cryptoclearance, an earner of more than $3.3 million compiled over 44 starts in four racing seasons. Among the worthies on the 1987 Triple Crown trail, he won the Florida Derby en route to a fourth in the Kentucky Derby, a third in the Preakness, and runner-up honors in the Belmont.

Cryptoclearance added more lucrative titles as an older horse, including the 1989 Donn and Widener H. (G1) as well as the Hawthorne Gold Cup H. (G2) twice. That bare-bones summary just scratches the surface of his lengthy resume on the racetrack.

By the terrific Mr. Prospector stallion Fappiano, Cryptoclearance has furthered his own subset of that sire line. His grandson Candy Ride is the sire of Hall of Famer Gun Runner, Twirling Candy, and red-hot leading freshman sire Vekoma.

Ancestress Prayer Wheel’s descendants include Japan’s exciting Admire Zoom.

Strategic Maneuver is the first registered foal from Prayer Wheel, the runner-up in the 1988 Natalma S. on the Woodbine turf. Prayer Wheel produced two more stakes scorers, Ashford Castle and Missionary. She also appears as the ancestress of Grade 2-winning marathoner Delosvientos.

Prayer Wheel was exported to Japan, where another descendant, Admire Zoom, made headlines last December with a good-looking victory in the Asahi Hai Futurity (G1) at Kyoto. That makes Admire Zoom one of several exciting turf three-year-olds to watch in 2025.

Interestingly, Prayer Wheel is by 1982 Horse of the Year Conquistador Cielo, the Metropolitan H. (G1) and Belmont romper who likewise hovers deep in the maternal pedigree of American Promise. Conquistador Cielo occupies the same spot in the fifth generation, as the sire of each of their fourth dams (great-great grandmothers).