Tom's d'Etat Tunes Up for Stephen Foster at Churchill

One of the nation's top older dirt horses, Tom's d'Etat, breezed a half-mile at Churchill Downs May 30 in :48 2/5 toward a start in the June 27 Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at the Louisville track.

A $500,000 race at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, the Stephen Foster heads the track's closing day program of its spring meet, which also includes the $100,000 Bashford Manor Stakes (G3) for 2-year-olds, the $100,000 Regret (G3T) for 3-year-old fillies, and the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2) for distaffers. The Stephen Foster and the Fleur de Lis are Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" events toward the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), respectively, at Keeneland Nov. 7.

After Tom's d'Etat won his season debut in the April 11 Oaklawn Mile Stakes at Oaklawn Park, trainer Al Stall Jr. had initially hoped to run him once at Churchill Downs before the Foster. But he changed his mind after Churchill revised its stakes schedule shortly before the start of its meet, altering the distance of the Blame Stakes from 1 1/8 miles to a one-turn mile. So Stall sat out the May 23 Blame, a race Owendale won over Everfast and Silver Dust.

"After things changed, I altered his training schedule—wormed him, that kind of stuff," Stall said. "Now he's in a steady breeze pattern with the Foster in mind. He's ready all the time. We're OK."

A two-time graded stakes winner with earnings of more than $1.3 million for G M B Racing, the 7-year-old Smart Strike horse is 5-for-8 at 1 1/8 miles. Last fall he won the Hagyard Fayette Stakes (G2) at Keeneland and Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) at Churchill at the distance, coming before his return win this spring at Oaklawn.

He is ranked seventh in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Top Thoroughbred Poll, which elite 5-year-old mare Midnight Bisou tops. The latter, who breezed five furlongs in 1:00 3/5 over a good track at Churchill May 28, is slated to make her first start since a second-place finish in the Saudi Cup in the Fleur de Lis, according to the current race schedule on the website of co-owner Bloom Racing.

The third-ranked horse in the poll, Oaklawn Handicap winner (G2) By My Standards, is another Churchill-based horse that is expected to join Tom's d'Etat in the Foster. 

Passing the Foster in favor of the Runhappy Metropolitan Mile (G1) at Belmont Park July 4 is Bakster Farms' Mr Freeze, who breezed a half-mile in :49 4/5 Saturday at Churchill Downs. Winner of the Ack Ack Stakes (G3) and Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes (G2) at the distance, the 5-year-old To Honor and Serve horse was third last out in the 1 1/8-mile Oaklawn Handicap (G2) May 2.

"We'll back him down to a mile, though I think he'll do any distance," trainer Dale Romans said of the Met Mile. "He's a good miler and that's a stallion-making race. Something like that would get people interested in breeding him."

Other standout horses that worked Saturday at Churchill included Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) points leader Swiss Skydiver, who went a half-mile in :51 1/5 for trainer Kenny McPeek; late-running graded winner Sally's Curlin, who breezed five furlongs in 1:02 for Romans toward the July 11 Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland; and Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old of 2018, who recorded her first breeze after winning a May 16 comeback allowance race with four furlongs in :48 4/5 for trainer Brad Cox.

The June 13 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) at 1 1/16 miles at Belmont Park or the 1 1/8-mile Fleur de Lis are two of the late spring/early summer races that could attract Monomoy Girl within the older dirt mare division.

Swiss Skydiver remains pointed toward the June 6 Santa Anita Oaks (G2), McPeek tweeted.

Also breezing Saturday was Charles Fipke's Seeking the Soul, last year's Stephen Foster winner for trainer Dallas Stewart. The 7-year-old Perfect Soul horse was given a break this winter and spring after going unplaced in five consecutive races following the Foster. He was clocked covering five furlongs in 1:02 2/5.

Stall similarly has a horse seeking a rebound—Bobby's Wicked One, who ran last of 11, beaten 47 lengths in the April 18 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn. Earlier, he won a pair of ungraded stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots during the winter in fast time. He races next in the $100,000 Aristides, a six-furlong race at Churchill June 6.

"Maybe it just wasn't his gig—I don't know," Stall said of the Oaklawn failure. "I think he's more of a trier than that. I know he is."