Veteran Tom’s d’Etat empowers Stephen Foster

Old veteran Tom’s d’Etat showed on Saturday that, at age 7, he is still at the top of his game.

Tom’s d’Etat was rated and then launched for a dominant victory at Churchill Downs in Grade 2, $ 500,000 Stephen Foster Stakes. The Smart Strike’s son covered the 1 1/8 miles below the Twin Spiers in 1: 47.30, almost two seconds faster than the star mare Midnight Bisou covered the same distance a race earlier in the Fleur de Lis (G2).

“The fountain of youth, he has the secret,” said coach Al Stall Jr.

After injuries limited Tom’s d’Etat for much of his previous career, the GMB Racing racer finally made his graduate betting debut last season when he was 6 years old. He entered a three-game winning streak on Saturday that included the Fayette Stakes (G2) last October at Keeneland, the Clark Stakes (G1) a month later at Churchill and then his 7-year debut on April 11 at the Oaklawn Mile Stakes. .

Carrying that good streak, Tom’s d’Etat went 6-5 in the Stephen Foster on Saturday against seven other older horses.

With regular rider Joel Rosario riding Saturday at Belmont Park, Miguel Mena got the mount at Tom’s d’Etat on Saturday. Mena allowed the horse to go forward through gate No. 5, and he sat just behind the Pirate’s Punch fractions of: 23.89 and: 48.13.

Tom’s d’Etat came up on the second turn and took command. By my standards, whoever entered Stephen Foster on a three-run winning streak chased him but didn’t have enough for the winner.

Tom’s d’Etat returned $ 4.60. By my standards, he stayed second ahead of teammate Silver Dust third.

“I knew it was a lot of fun riding it in the morning, but I didn’t realize how much fun it was in the afternoon,” Mena said. “I owe everything to Al for giving me the opportunity to ride such an impressive horse.” . It was going very well and I just asked him for a little bit of attention at the top of the lane and I didn’t even have to really step on the gas. ”

The victory brought a “Win and You’re in” ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, scheduled for Keeneland on November 7. That race will come 10 years after another of Stall’s stars, Blame, defeats Zenyatta in the Classic 2010.

“We knew that coming into this race was a new horse, but it ran very well in the past,” Stall said. “This will prepare him to be in good shape for the rest of the year. I think he will benefit a lot from this race, but we have been waiting for this horse to get in shape with his career breaks.” , but finally got there. That was a very impressive performance today. “

As for Tom’s d’Etat’s next start, Stall said: “We’ll take a long hard look” at the $ 750,000 Whitney Stakes (G1) from Saratoga on August 1.