LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Maximum Security crossed the finish line first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. What happened next set horse racing off on a yearlong odyssey of chaos: from a historic disqualification to doping, from lawsuits to a pandemic, and now to a Triple Crown Series turned upside down.
Amid the uncertainty, Tiz the Law has emerged. A victory Saturday in the 146th edition of the Kentucky Derby would put the colt bred in upstate New York in position to become racing’s 14th Triple Crown winner going into next month’s Preakness Stakes.
“If he won it, he’d have an asterisk,” rival owner Jack Wolf said. “I’d rather have an asterisk than not have it.”
The coronavirus upended the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, turning the three-event set from a five-week sprint into a 15-week marathon and scrambling the order. Instead of leading off on the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby shifted to Labor Day weekend. The Run for the Roses is being sandwiched between the Belmont Stakes in mid-June and the Preakness Stakes in early October.
It took until days before this year’s race to confirm last year’s Derby winner.