Five years ago, Authentic defeated Tiz the Law in a Kentucky Derby (G1) before an eerily quiet grandstand at Churchill Downs. Staged in September rather than May due to the onset of COVID-19, the race was conducted without fans but not without drama. Authentic led throughout and prevailed by 1 1/4 lengths over favored Tiz the Law.
Both horses would become stallions the following year, with Authentic, the 2020 Horse of the Year, retired to Spendthrift Farm after his November victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland. Tiz the Law, sixth in the Breeders' Cup Classic, would take up stallion duties at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud.
With their first crop of runners now 3-year-olds, their progeny are battling on the racetrack, and in the May 3 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, a son of Authentic and a son of Tiz the Law will square off, just as their sires did beneath the twin spires years ago.
Authentic, currently the second-leading second-crop sire of 2025 after finishing 2024 as the seventh-leading freshman stallion, is represented by Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) winner. Tiz the Law, currently fourth among second-crop sires of 2025 and the third-leading freshman sire of 2024, has an expected entrant in Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Tiztastic.
A win from either in the $5 million race could vault their respective sires ahead of or close to the progeny earnings of current second-crop leader Vekoma , depending on how the progeny fare in the next two weeks around North America.
Rodriguez races for Authentic's trainer, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, as well as two of Authentic's owners: Madaket Stables and Starlight Racing. They campaigned Authentic with Spendthrift Farm and MyRacehorse Stable.
SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Bob Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan own Rodriguez. SF Racing also co-owned Authentic through his first three starts.
Rodriguez seems to run best on the lead, as his sire did. In a performance that Baffert said "looked like Authentic," Rodriguez went to the front in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith and defeated Grande by 3 1/2 lengths.
"I think they realized he just wants to be left alone. I could tell that warming up," Smith said after the Wood Memorial. "Every time you did something with him, he'd get uptight. That's just it—if you get him to breathe, he's gonna run, man, and that's what he did today."
Smith has twice won the Derby, upsetting the 2005 race aboard John Shirreffs-trained Giacomo and sweeping the Triple Crown on the Baffert-trained Justify in 2018.
Before the Wood in two other stakes starts, Rodriguez had pressed the pace and finished third behind Derby favorite Journalism in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) and second to Citizen Bull in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3), both at Santa Anita Park. The latter horse, a son of Into Mischief , has the same ownership as Rodriguez and also goes in the Derby for Baffert. Martin Garcia will ride.
Tiztastic, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds and the Coolmore-affiliated ownership of Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, is an off-the-pace threat in the Derby. What the colt lacks in early quickness, he makes up for in versatility. Besides his triumph in the Louisiana Derby, he won a pair of races 10 days apart on grass last year at Kentucky Downs, topped by the $998,550 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile Stakes. Coal Battle, another expected Kentucky Derby participant, was fourth in the same race.
"We imagined (Tiz the Law) would be an all-American dirt stallion, and I think in many ways he still is, but he has that extra bonus of being able to get top-notch turf runners as well," said Adrian Mansergh Wallace from Coolmore America's nominations and sales division.
Tiz the Law won a shortened Belmont Stakes (G1) in 2020 when the Belmont kicked off a revamped Triple Crown that year at 1 1/8 miles.
"Had it not been for a certain Authentic, he would probably be a Kentucky Derby winner himself," Wallace said.
Jockey Joel Rosario, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2024, will attempt to win a second Kentucky Derby on Tiztastic after his initial success in 2013 on the Shug McGaughey-trained Orb. Asmussen, who also runs Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Publisher, is in search of an elusive first victory in the Run for the Roses after going 0-2-2 with 26 earlier starters.
