Tom Pedulla is interviewing prominent owners, trainers, and jockeys for America’s Best Racing as they travel the road to the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.

The Derby has been rescheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jim “Spider” Webb, one of 35 members of Sackatoga Stable who invested in heavy Derby favorite Tiz the Law, is featured this week. Webb, 54, is a former women’s basketball coach at Division 2 Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa. He recently retired as a school administrator.

Webb, who lives in Washington, Pa., joined Sackatoga in 2014. He invested in a number of New York-breds with that stable before striking gold with Curlin Florida Derby, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets, and Runhappy Travers Stakes winner Tiz the Law, a $110,000 purchase as a yearling for trainer Barclay Tagg.

PEDULLA: How did you get interested in horse racing?

WEBB: When I was young, my uncle [Emory] took me to a harness track in West Virginia. That’s kind of where it began. I would occasionally go to the Kentucky Derby. When I got married, my wife [Dana] and I enjoyed Saratoga, so we would go there every summer.

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PEDULLA: How did you get involved with Sackatoga and when?

WEBB: I got involved in the summer of 2014. I met with Jack [managing partner Jack Knowlton]. I wanted to get an OK from my wife. I had Jack talk to my wife for about 10 minutes and my wife came back and said, “This is something we ought to do.”

PEDULLA: Who was your first horse?

WEBB: Our first horse was Royal Ekati that summer.

PEDULLA: Did he do much?

WEBB: No. He was pretty well thought of and was a pretty high purchase for our group. We spent $180,000, which is a little more than what Jack would normally do. He was [by] Tale of Ekati, who won the Wood Memorial. He had eight starts, one first and one third. In the end, he decided he did not want to run any more. He is doing some jumping right now. I don’t know where.

PEDULLA: You did not have the greatest first experience. Why did you stick with it?

WEBB: You get to do some of the things a normal horseplayer isn’t able to do. We love going to the backside at Saratoga. I’ve had opportunities to meet people in the game that you wouldn’t have an opportunity to meet.

PEDULLA: Why do partnerships work well for people like you?

WEBB: The initial commitment is not a lot of money. If the horse is not successful, the capital call is spread out to everyone in the room.

Barclay Tagg, right, with Tiz the Law during morning exercise at Saratoga. (Eclipse Sportswire)

PEDULLA: What is it like to see the game from the backside?

WEBB: It’s really been a very enjoyable experience for us. I was out there by myself three weeks ago and I got to talk to Barclay for about 20 minutes while he was on a horse on the track. Experiences like that you don’t get if you’re not part of a partnership. Some of the camaraderie we have at Sackatoga, I’ve met some really great people. It kind of gives you that team feeling like I had when I was coaching and playing.

PEDULLA: May I ask how much you initially invested in Tiz the Law?

WEBB: A share was $7,500. I took half a share.

PEDULLA: When did you first sense that you might have something special in Tiz the Law?

WEBB: Jack was pretty confident about his workouts, and Jack is not a boastful guy. When he spoke pretty highly of him, I thought we might have a legitimate horse.

PEDULLA: Did you start to get his excited when he won his debut at Saratoga?

WEBB: I did. We were not initially going to the Champagne [Stakes] at Belmont. We were looking at a race at Aqueduct. For whatever reason, they decided to go in the Champagne. To be honest with you, going into that race, it seemed like we were taking a shot. There wasn’t the confidence level you would like to have. But, thankfully, the horse took care of it for us.

PEDULLA: When he won the Champagne as authoritatively as he did, did you start to get Derby fever?

WEBB: I thought we had a good 2-year-old. I don’t know if I was to the point where I thought of the Derby in that light. Certainly, winning the biggest race for a 2-year-old in New York gives you the right to be in that conversation.

PEDULLA: What was your reaction to winning the Belmont Stakes?

WEBB: I was a nervous wreck going into the race. When he won the race, as my son [Luke] would say, it was more relief than joy. I thought we had a chance. I thought we had the best horse. But until you go out there and do it … I would say I was more nervous than a big basketball game … because at least coaching and playing you have a little bit of control. With horse racing, you don’t have any control.

PEDULLA: With attendance limited to 12 owners per group at Saratoga Race Course due to the pandemic, where did you watch the Travers?

WEBB: I watched it from my home. I put a big-screen TV on my patio, I have an awning set up there, I have a Sackatoga Stable chair and my Saratoga clock. And that’s where I watch the races.

PEDULLA: There are people who work a lifetime without having a Derby horse. You have not been in the game all that long. What does it mean to have a Derby horse?

WEBB: It means the world to me. It is a dream come true, it really is. I never thought in a million years that I would be in a position where we’re going to have a prohibitive favorite entering the Kentucky Derby. Obviously, it is one of the biggest highlights of your life.

PEDULLA: Do you allow yourself to think what it would feel like if Tiz the Law wins the Derby?

WEBB: I think it would be one of the great stories in racing at a time when racing and sports needs it. Tiz the Law is one of those stories that people can really get behind. If he wins this race and has the opportunity for a Triple Crown, I think you will see so many people band together at a time when racing needs a good story.