NEW YORK - Eerily empty grandstands. Masked jockeys. Shuttered betting windows.
And for Tiz the Law trainer Barclay Tagg, there was no finer way to round out a career Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
"I'm not trying to be a jerk about it," the 82-year-old said. "But I thought the quiet, to me, was very nice."
Everything was strange about this Belmont Stakes except the winner.
Heavily favored Tiz the Law triumphed in an unprecedented Belmont, winning Saturday in Elmont, New York, to take the first race of a rejiggered Triple Crown schedule that barred fans from Belmont Park because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 3-year-old colt from upstate charged to the lead turning for home at the Long Island track and now can set his sights on the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville and the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. All three legs of this year's Triple Crown schedule were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Belmont, usually the series capper, was initially scheduled for June 6.
Tiz the Law gave the Empire State its own champion in its first major sporting event since the pandemic took hold. He's the first New York-bred horse to win the Belmont since Forester in 1882.
"It's a lot smaller crowd, that's for sure," said owner Jack Knowlton, who watched from a restaurant patio in the familiar surroundings of Saratoga Springs.
AP photo by Seth Wenig / Tiz the Law (8), with jockey Manny Franco up, crosses the finish line in front of an empty grandstand to win the152nd running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday in Elmont, N.Y.The 4-5 favorite won by 3 3/4 lengths, covering the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.53. Dr Post finished second and Max Player was third.
The race was shortened from the usual 1 -mile standard to account for competitors' unusual training schedules. Horses kicked off from a starting gate placed atop the back stretch, rather than in front of the grandstands.
In most every way, this Belmont Stakes was unlike any of the 151 that preceded it. The track can pack in nearly 100,000 spectators, but this race had about 100 people on hand, including jockeys, media and park staff. Masks were mandated for all but the horses.
Closed to the public since March, Belmont Park hardly resembled the summer soiree site New Yorkers are used to. Betting windows and gift shops were closed, with not a single boozy Belmont Breeze to sip.
Foot traffic has been so sparse that a few weeds more than a foot tall had sprouted up between bricks paving the track-side pavilion.
Silence at the 115-year-old venue was broken when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the traditional "Riders, up!" call remotely via video. Longtime bugler Sam Grossman pulled down his mask to play "Call to the Post," and horses strolled onto the track to a recording of Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York." A public address announcer introduced them to empty grandstands.
Signs outside the locked-down venue instructed gamblers that if they wanted to wager on this Belmont, their best bet was to download an app and do it on their phones - perhaps a welcome harbinger for Tap It to Win, who led out of the gates and seemed poised to give trainer Mark Casse a third straight Triple Crown race victory.
Instead, Tiz the Law powered past him on the outside and cruised to victory.
"Everything just went like clockwork," Tagg said.
Knowlton, from New York's Sackatoga Stable, noted this race was a little different than 17 years ago, when the Sackatoga crew took a school bus to watch their colt Funny Cide try to seal a Triple Crown sweep at Belmont. Funny Cide, also trained by Tagg, finished third that day.
"It's tremendous," Knowlton said. "We just buy New York-breds, that's our game. We don't spend a lot of money. We've been with Barclay Tagg for 25 years. I keep telling everybody Barclay doesn't get a lot of big horses and big opportunities, but when he gets them he knows what to do."
Tagg said he wasn't sure if Tiz the Law would pull it off until the final 100 yards. The colt paid $3.50 to win, $2.90 to place and $2.60 to show.
"I'm just glad I lived long enough that I got another horse like this," Tagg said.
AP photo by Seth Wenig / Winning jockey Manny Franco holds up the August Belmont trophy after riding Tiz the Law to victory Saturday in Elmont, N.Y. Although Belmont Park is the 25-year-old Franco's home track, this was his first Belmont Stakes, which is serving as the opener to the Triple Crown series this year due to the schedule being reshuffled by the coronavirus pandemic.Manny Franco, a 25-year-old jockey from Puerto Rico, entered the winner's circle on his first Belmont entry. He called Tiz the Law a " versatile" horse ahead of the race, and what he showed Saturday was typical - stalk the pacemakers early, then pounce on the home stretch.
"It means a lot to me," Franco said. "This is my home track. I've ridden here for about six years already. One leg of the Triple Crown is the dream of any jockey. I'm happy with the opportunity I have right now."
Dr Post, owned by famed trainer Todd Pletcher, paid $5.80 and $4.20. Max Player paid $5.20, among the highest finishes by a female-trained horse; Linda Rice was trying to become the first woman to ever send a horse to victory at a Triple Crown race.
Plenty remained on the line. Tiz the Law earned Knowlton the top share of a $1 million purse, and the top four horses earned Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
Tiz the Law took advantage of a 10-horse field weakened by injuries. Among the casualties were two potential entrants from famed trainer Bob Baffert, who has saddled two Triple Crown champions but ended up without a horse in this race - one of which, Charlatan, is expected to run the Preakness.
Earlier Saturday, Gamine led all the way in winning the $300,000 Acorn Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 18 3/4 lengths.
Trained by Baffert, Gamine ran one mile in 1:32.55, fastest in the 90-year history of the race. Her time was just off the track record of 1:32.24 set by Najran in 2003. Gamine earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs.
Gamine is one of two horses trained by Baffert that tested positive for a banned substance at Oaklawn in Arkansas, where she won May 2. Published reports said Gamine, along with Charlatan, tested positive for lidocaine, a regulated anesthetic widely used in equine medicine.