HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Give the best horse the perfect trip in any race and the results usually turn out the way they did in Saturday’s Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby.  The 7-5 favorite Tiz the Law pulled away to a convincing 4 1/4-length victory over longshot Shivaree in the finale of an outstanding 14-race program decided in front of an eerily empty grandstand in deference to the coronavirus pandemic. Although the purse of this year’s Florida Derby was cut from $1 million to  $750,000 just a week prior to the event, the race still offered 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, of which 100 went to the winner. While jockey Manny Franco may have received some criticism for his ride aboard Tiz the Law on route to his three-length victory in the Grade 3 Holy Bull eight weeks ago, he deserved nothing but high praise for the trip he orchestrated for the now two-time Grade 1 winner in the Florida Derby. Tiz the Law broke well with Franco easing him back slightly and keeping him outside horses entering the clubhouse turn. The winner of the Grade 1 Champagne at 2, Tiz the Law wound up in perfect stalking position just two lengths off the pacesetting pair of Shivaree and Ete Indien in the run down the backstretch before moving up gradually to engage the leaders three wide approaching the quarter pole. Tiz the Law gained command entering the stretch, edged clear near the furlong grounds, then readily increased his advantage under vigorous urging to the end. Shivaree was aggressively handled by jockey Emisael Jaramillo leaving the gate to take command into the clubhouse turn. The 80-1 outsider volleyed for the lead inside Ete Indien for seven furlongs, fought on gamely from the inside once settling into the stretch, then held off that rival by three-parts of a length to finish second, earning 40 Derby qualifying points in the process. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Gouverneur Morris dropped back early and came widest into the stretch, rallying mildly to finish fourth. He in turn was followed by Independence Hall, Candy Tycoon, My First Grammy, As Seen On Tv, and Rogue Element – the latter two runners easing across the wire far back.  Four of the original 13 horses entered for the race on Wednesday – Disc Jockey, Soros, Ajaaweed, and Sassy But Smart – were  scratched earlier in the day. The Florida Derby was the fourth win in lifetime five starts for Tiz the Law, whose lone setback came at Churchill Downs in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club in a race decided over a sloppy track in his 2-year-old finale. Owned by Sackatoga Stable, the son of Constitution completed 1 1/8 miles over a fast track in 1:50.00 and paid $4.80. “I told Manny before the race I’d love to see him laying third in the two path on the first turn,” said trainer Barclay Tagg, who won the 2003 Kentucky Derby for Sackatoga with Funny Cide. “And he had him third in the three path which was absolutely perfect positioning for this horse. Manny was cool as a cucumber, the horse was cool as a cucumber. Everything just went perfectly all the way around.” Tagg said despite all that, he himself didn’t start feeling confident until Tiz the Law began to pull away nearing midstretch. “The last eighth of a mile I started feeling pretty good,” said Tagg. “Even though everything went so well, you always have to worry because so many things can happen out there.” Tagg said he was also grateful just to have had the opportunity to run Tiz the Law on Saturday considering the fact so many tracks had closed down recently because of the coronavirus crisis. “I’m awfully ecstatic we got to run and were able to win this race today,” Tagg explained. “It’s been two months since he ran and it might have been at least two more if they didn’t let us run here today. It’s still five months until the Derby, but it’s great to have been able to get this one out of the way.” Ralph Nicks, who trains Shivaree, said “the winner was awesome, but [Shivaree] is one tough little fella. He’s got speed, so we weren’t going to take him away from that if he broke well, and he broke well.”  Florent Geroux, who earlier in the day guided Bemma’s Boy and Social Paranoia to back-to-back Grade 2 victories in the Pan American and Appleton, rode Ete Indien to his third-place finish in the Florida Derby. “I kept him second, I was really happy with that,” said Geroux. “He was a little more aggressive than I wanted. I’m not sure it cost me the win, but maybe second.”  Based on a tally from each race, all-sources handle for the Florida Derby card was a record $53,555,529, eclipsing the previous mark of $49,909,070 handled in 2018. Last year's handle was $47,520,600. The Rainbow 6 Saturday handled $9,211,772 and it returned $17,848 for a $0.20 wager. – additional reporting by David Grening