Tom's d'Etat Readies For Clark Handicap

Blossoming 6-year-old Tom's d'Etat breezed five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 Nov. 16 at Churchill Downs, aiming toward his first grade 1 victory in the $600,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) at the Louisville, Ky., track.

Tom's d'Etat is the likely favorite for the 1 1/8-mile dirt race Nov. 29. In career-best form, he won the Aug. 2 Alydar Stakes at Saratoga Race Course and the $200,000 Hagyard Fayette Stakes (G2) Oct. 26 at Keeneland in his most recent start.

"He ran lights out in that. It's time to try to get a grade 1," trainer Al Stall Jr. said.

A son of Smart Strike, Tom's d'Etat has earned $608,400 of his $886,892 bankroll from six starts in 2019 for owner G M B Racing. His best grade 1 finish was a fourth in the Aug. 31 Woodward Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) at Saratoga.

"He fired an A-plus race at Saratoga and just didn't quite get it done. He traveled the most ground, got the best Ragozin number. I guess that's a moral victory," Stall said.

Ragozin Sheets, along with its speed-figure competitor Thoro-Graph, take into account ground loss and weight carried, meaning the first-place horse is not always the highest rated.

Joel Rosario, aboard in both the Alydar and Fayette, will travel from New York for the mount in the Clark, Stall said.

Nominations to the race do not close until the end of the day Saturday. At least four other horses are already under consideration, including Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) winner Seeking the Soul, Fayette runner-up Mr Freeze, 2018 Clark runner-up Bravazo, and 3-year-old Owendale.

Owendale, 10th in the Nov. 2 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park, also breezed Saturday at Churchill Downs, covering a half-mile in :48 4/5 seconds. His trainer, Brad Cox, stopped short of committing him to the Clark, saying Owendale is only a "possible" starter. A three-time grade 3 winner in 2019 who was third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Race Course in May, Owendale was fifth this summer in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga.

"So far, so good. Maybe give him one more run in a grade 1 as a 3-year-old," Cox said. "I don't think this will come up like the Travers or Classic."

Mr Freeze, beaten 4 1/4 lengths by Tom's d'Etat in the Fayette, breezed a half-mile in :48, a day after Seeking the Soul went the same distance in :48 4/5.

The 2017 Clark winner, Seeking the Soul will attempt to become only the fourth horse in 145 years to win the Clark multiple times and the first horse to win the race in non-consecutive years. Horses with multiple wins in the Clark are Hodge (1915-16), Bold Favorite (1968-69), and Bob's Dusty (1977-78).

The Clark is part of an action-packed stakes schedule at Churchill Downs that begins on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, and continues through Nov. 30, the penultimate day of the fall meet.

The $175,000 Cardinal Handicap (G3T) and $300,000 Falls City Handicap (G2) are the Nov. 28 headline races, followed by the $300,000 Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2T) and Clark the next day and ending with the $300,000 Golden Rod Stakes (G2) and $300,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds Nov. 30.

Cox said he will run stakes winners Myladycurlin and Moonlit Garden in the Falls City.

The Churchill Downs meet wraps up Dec. 1. Racing on the Kentucky circuit shifts to Turfway Park Dec. 4.