“Disappointing that Tiz will not be able to run in the Preakness, our primary interest is doing what’s right for the horse & in this case he’s not ready,” wrote the Sackatoga Stable Twitter account in a tweet “signed” by principle owner Jack Knowlton.

The decision was not exactly a surprise. In the aftermath of Tiz the Law’s surprising defeat in the Kentucky Derby, Knowlton had indicated he hoped to go forward to the Preakness. But trainer Barclay Tagg had demurred, saying he preferred to train up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic November 7.

In the days that followed, while saying that Tiz the Law was fine, Knowlton also acknowledged that the barn star had come out of the Kentucky Derby “a little more worse for the wear.” That suggested to tea-leaf readers that a decision to skip the Preakness was in the offing.

Tiz the Law has thus far had a remarkable campaign, and career. The New York-bred sophomore son of Constitution, a $110,000 auction purchase as a yearling, has won six of eight career starts, never finishing worse than third. He has earned over $2.6 million.

This year, Tiz the Law won the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park by the end of March. When Eastern racing returned to something like normal in late May, Tiz the Law posted victories in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and then the Grade 1 Travers.

He was, at 7-10, the short-priced Kentucky Derby favorite in decades. But in the Derby, though he loomed a threat at the head of the lane, he could not pass the Bob Baffert-trainee Authentic, who fended him off to win by a length-and-a-quarter.

Tiz the Law will now be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, to be contested November 7 at Keeneland.