Tiz the Law consolidates favoritism in Pool 5 of Kentucky Derby Future Wager
Jun 29, 2020
About a week after his comprehensive victory in the Belmont S. (G1), Tiz the Law firmed up his position as the Kentucky Derby (G1) favorite when topping Pool 5 of the Future Wager at 2-1. The first of the pools newly added for the summer ran from Friday through Sunday at 6 p.m. (ET).
Tiz the Law is also the runaway leader in Derby points, amassing a total of 272 so far after victories in the Champagne (G1), Holy Bull (G3), and Florida Derby (G1) prior to his Belmont heroics. The Barclay Tagg trainee, who sports the Sackatoga Stable silks made famous by Funny Cide, is pointing for the Aug. 8 Travers (G1) en route to the Sept. 5 Derby.
The second in the standings with 120 points, Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Honor A. P., was also the second choice in Pool 5 at 6-1. Trained by John Shirreffs, the C R K Stable runner is expected to use the Aug. 1 Shared Belief at Del Mar as his final stepping stone.
After the open-ended option of “All Other 3-Year-Old Males” closed as the 8-1 third choice, the next individual interest was the 11-1 Authentic. The Bob Baffert pupil continued the theme as the third on the leaderboard with 100 points. Runner-up to Honor A. P. at Santa Anita last out, the speedy colt plans to ship to Monmouth for the July 18 Haskell Invitational (G1).
Details are available on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5 page.
The lone points race last weekend, Saturday’s Ohio Derby (G3), did not make much of an impact on the leaderboard. The 14-1 Dean Martini, who is not Triple Crown-nominated, rode the rail under a heady ride by Ricardo Mejias to post the upset. Claimed for $50,000 out of a May 17 Churchill Downs maiden score by trainer Tom Amoss, Dean Martini provided a $300,000 windfall to his new connections at Thistledown. The Ohio Derby offered 20 points to the winner, but he’d need to be supplemented to the Kentucky Derby to make them usable. Amoss sounded disinclined according to a Monday report in Daily Racing Form.
The other story of the Ohio Derby was that last year’s surprising Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) champion, Storm the Court, continued his losing skid. But the 2.40-1 favorite was up against it when hung out wide from post 12, and he acquitted himself respectably in a hard-trying third to Dean Martini and South Bend. Storm the Court added 4 points, bringing up his total to 36 to sit 13th on the leaderboard, while South Bend’s rally netted him his first 8 points to land 27th.
Although the July 4 Los Alamitos Derby (G3) is the only scoring race this holiday weekend, a pair of Thursday allowances have interest for the Kentucky Derby trail. Baffert’s $3.65 million debut winner, Cezanne, will stretch out to a mile for an allowance. The son of Curlin, who closed at 19-1 in Pool 5 of the KDFW, is the morning-line 4-5 favorite over just four rivals in the 5TH race at Los Alamitos. Also Thursday at Belmont Park, recent maiden winner Creed (54-1 in Pool 5) steps up to allowance company for Shug McGaughey in the 6TH.
The Los Alamitos Derby – worth points on the 20-8-4-2 scale – could mark a turning point for Baffert’s Thousand Words. Freshened after a pair of disappointing efforts, the $1 million son of Pioneerof the Nile is eligible to return to his early career form highlighted by wins in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) and Robert B. Lewis (G3). If so, he’ll encourage those who backed him at 47-1 in Pool 5.
FOLLOW FOR UPDATES AND EXCLUSIVES
Missed something? Catch up on past Kentucky Derby news
