Tom's d'Etat Eyes Grade 1 Prize in Clark at Churchill

Appropriately on "Black Friday," one of the busiest retail-sales days of the year, the connections of 12 runners are shopping for opportunity in the Nov. 29 Clark Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) at Churchill Downs.

Although the $600,000 purse of the Clark is alluring, it is the prestige of the race as a grade 1 that has attracted some of its key participants, led by G M B Racing's Tom's d'Etat, winner of the Oct. 26 Hagyard Fayette Stakes (G2) at Keeneland. A 6-year-old Smart Strike horse with a record of eight wins from 15 starts and earnings of $886,892, he is a potential sire, one whose stud prospects would be enhanced with a grade 1 victory.

Compared to alternative grade 1s such as the Breeders' Cup races from earlier this month or the upcoming Dec. 7 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack—a race expected to draw Maximum Security, Spun To Run, and Whitmore, among others—the Clark seems ripe for the picking. Five of Tom's d'Etat's foes have not yet won a graded stakes race, and of the six that have, only Seeking the Soul is already a grade 1 winner, having won the Clark two years ago.

Many of the leading prospects in the 1 1/8-mile contest for older horses appear more of grade 2 or grade 3 quality, though some, such as Draft Pick, Owendale, and Bravazo, have managed to place in grade 1s—Bravazo most of all. He has hit the board in six grade 1s with most of those last year at 3 in such races as the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Tom's d'Etat has started twice in grade 1s, running a wide fourth in the Aug. 31 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course and ninth in a sloppy Jan. 26 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park, a race in which Seeking the Soul was second and Bravazo fourth.

The Clark "was the perfect race to go to after the Fayette. He is stabled here and handles Churchill very well," said Tom's d'Etat's trainer Al Stall Jr.

Though he has run behind Seeking the Soul in two of three match-ups—most recently third behind him in the June 15 Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill—he has finished in front of other principal rivals in meetings since the fall of 2018. In one example, he defeated Mr Freeze by 4 1/4 lengths in a sloppy Fayette. 

Video: Hagyard Fayette S. (G2)

He has compiled a 2-2-1 record in six races over the Churchill Downs main track for Stall, who won the 2009 Clark with Blame , a year before the colt's Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) triumph.

Joel Rosario, aboard Tom's d'Etat in the Fayette, an earlier summer victory in the Alydar Stakes at Saratoga, and a Saratoga allowance win way back in 2017, will return in the irons.

Seeking to rebound from an unrewarding summer and fall in California is Seeking the Soul, a 6-year-old son of Perfect Soul. Taken to the West Coast after scoring in the Stephen Foster, in which he earned an automatic berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, he finished seventh in the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1), fourth in the Awesome Again Stakes (G1), and finally sixth in the Classic, beaten 15 1/4 lengths by Vino Rosso .

"We're back at Churchill where we know he likes to win," Stewart said.

Four of Seeking the Soul's seven victories from 30 starts have come locally for owner Charles Fipke.

Brian Hernandez Jr. will be aboard Seeking the Soul, who will attempt to become only the fourth horse to win multiple runnings of the Clark, according to Churchill Downs publicity. Friday marks the race's 145th renewal.

Owendale, like Seeking the Soul, also failed to threaten in the Classic, finishing 10th, beaten 22 1/2 lengths. He won three grade 3s earlier this year: the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3), Ohio Derby (G3), and Oklahoma Derby (G3). He was also third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) in May.

Bravazo picked up Preakness experience a year earlier when he finished second to Triple Crown winner Justify . Out of action since the Pegasus, he has been training toward his return for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

New to Kentucky is Draft Pick, who was routed to the Clark after the colt's owners had another horse, eventual winner Midcourt, ready for last week's Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar, trainer Peter Eurton said. Second in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar this summer, he was a well-beaten fifth last out in the Sept. 28 Awesome Again at Santa Anita Park.

"The only excuse I could give him is the Pacific Classic took quite a bit out of him," Eurton said. "Maybe I babied him too much."

The 11th race on a 12-race card, the Clark goes off at 5:56 p.m. EST under the lights, roughly an hour after the Mrs. Revere (G2T), the day's other stake and the afternoon's ninth race.

Entries: Clark S. presented by Norton Healthcare (G1)

Churchill Downs, Friday, November 29, 2019, Race 11

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $600,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 5:56 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Draft Pick (KY)	Joseph Talamo	121	Peter Eurton	12/1
2	2Tom's d'Etat (KY)	Joel Rosario	123	Albert M. Stall, Jr.	8/5
3	3Mocito Rojo (KY)	Filemon T. Rodriguez	121	Shane Wilson	15/1
4	4Major Cabbie (LA)	Paco Lopez	121	Peter Miller	15/1
5	5Snapper Sinclair (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	121	Steven M. Asmussen	15/1
6	6Fact Finding (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	121	Charles Lopresti	30/1
7	7Mr. Buff (NY)	Junior Alvarado	121	John C. Kimmel	12/1
8	8Owendale (KY)	Florent Geroux	118	Brad H. Cox	10/1
9	9Mr Freeze (KY)	Robby Albarado	121	Dale L. Romans	8/1
10	10Bravazo (KY)	Luis Saez	121	D. Wayne Lukas	8/1
11	11Seeking the Soul (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	123	Dallas Stewart	5/1
12	12Pioneer Spirit (KY)	David Cohen	121	Robertino Diodoro	12/1