By Arnie Leshin
It’s the greatest two minutes in sports.
And that’s the 145th running of the heralded Kentucky Derby, which lists Tiz the Law as the heavy favorite when they race Saturday at Churchill Downs four months after the original date of May 2 was postponed by the coronavirus pandemic and was reset as the second leg of the Triple Crown.
The Belmont Stakes ran first in June after always going last, with the Preakness Stakes the middle race in Baltimore. But now comes the most prestigious of the three, with 18 horses going to the post with the colt Tiz the Law, who won the Belmont by 4 and one-half lengths.
There’s no doubt that Tiz the Law is the fastest horse in the field and he’s earned his claim to being No. 1. But he’s also running from post number 17th and no horse has ever won the Kentucky Derby from there. And he has company on both sides of him, with Honor A.P. in the 16th position and Authentic is breaking from the 18th gate, the further on the outside.
Those two could be the main challengers for TIz the Law. Presently, Honor A.P., with 55-year-old Mike Smith of Albuquerque, N.M. aboard, is at 5-1, and Authentic at 4-1. Smith has won the Derby twice and should know how to break from the outside and run with the rest of the field.
In the saddle on Tiz the Law again is Manny Franco, at 25 the youngest jockey in the field. He has been Liz the Law’s regular rider and rode him across the finish line at the Belmont, as well as winning all four Grade 1 Stakes, and at the Travers Stakes won by 5 and one-half lengths.
Barclay Tagg is the trainer and he last won a major race with Funny Cide at the 2003 Kentucky Derby.
One horse has been scratched and it was Art Collector, who was recognized as one of the contenders. So now it could be Tiz the Law challenges from Honor A.P, Authentic, maybe Max Player, who finished third in the Belmont or even Finnick the Fierce, a gelding from the number one post with current 30-1 odds, but he did finish ahead of Tiz the Law, who placed third behind runner-up Finnick the Fierce in a Grade A race at Churchill Downs. The horse is also blind in one eye.
The sleeper has to be Money Moves in only his third race, of which he’s won two, but they weren’t major races. Still, his odds dropped from 30-1 to 16-1. As for the odds on Tiz the Law, if you bet $5, you win $3.
Secretariat set records at all three racetracks when he won the Triple Crown in 1973, and his record time at the Derby was 1:59.4 over the 1 and one-quarter mile course, which is also 10 furlongs. He won the Belmont Stakes by a record 31 lengths.
There will be the usual Hat Parade Derby hats worn by the women, mint julips guzzled down, and “My Old Kentucky Home” played before post time. But the report is that there will be limits on spectators, so there wont be the usual cheering from the stands.
Nothing else changes. There’s still the horses parading to the starting gate, followed by “And they’re off,” and then down the stretch they come better late than never.
The Field by post positions:
1. FINNICK THE FIERCE 30-1
2. MAX PLAYER 10-1
3. ENFORCEABLE 30-1
4. STORM THE COURT 24-1
5. MAJOR FED 40-1
6. KING GUILLERMO 15-1
7. MONEY MOVES 16-1
8. SOUTH BEND 50-1
9. MR. BIG NEWS 30-1
10. THOUSAND WORDS 12-1
11. NECKER ISLAND 50-1
12. SOLE VOLANTE 25-1
13. ATTACHMENT PAC 12-1
14. WINNING IMPRESSION 50-1
15. N.Y. TRAFFIC 10-1
16. HONOR A.P. 4-1
17. TIZ THE LAW 4-5
18. AUTHENTIC 3-1