Tom's d'Etat, By My Standards Face Off in Foster

Ten years have passed since Al Stall Jr. trained Blame  to victory in the 2010 Stephen Foster Handicap (G1) at Churchill Downs—and ultimately to a win in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)—but the steps the trainer took along the way have not been forgotten.

Since last fall, G M B Racing's Tom's d'Etat has been managed similarly. Like Blame a decade earlier, he won both the Hagyard Fayette Stakes (G2) and Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1), and now after a winter freshening comes into the Stephen Foster after a victorious season debut. That race, the Oaklawn Mile Stakes, differed from the William Donald Schaefer Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course in which Blame prepped, but the result was the same.

Now comes the hard part for Tom's d'Etat, beginning June 27 in the $500,000 Stephen Foster Stakes (G2). Although the 1 1/8-mile race is no longer a handicap and was downgraded to a grade 2 in 2019, it remains an important early summer race, drawing graded stakes winners Multiplier, By My Standards, Silver Dust, and Owendale to face Tom's d'Etat and three others.

Tom's d'Etat must spot two to four pounds to each as the 124-pound highweight and do so without his regular jockey, Joel Rosario. Rosario is riding at Belmont Park on Saturday, including aboard TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) winner Uni in the $300,000 Just a Game Stakes (G1T), Stall said.

Local jockey Miguel Mena, who rides often for Stall, has picked up the ride on the 7-year-old son of Smart Strike.

Though Tom's d'Etat brings an eye-catching record into the Stephen Foster, having won 10 of 17 starts and more than $1.3 million, Stall is reluctant to compare him to Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's Blame at this stage.

"Blame was a great horse, and we're trying to get 'Tom' up to that status," he said. "They're both class animals—there is no question about it—different than a regular horse across the board in everything they do."

Video: Oaklawn Mile S. (BT)

In the April 11 Oaklawn Mile under confident handling from Rosario, Tom's d'Etat ran down Improbable, the next-out winner of the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G1). He needs to run as well Saturday to defeat the streaking By My Standards, who is 3-for-3 this year, including victories in the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) and Oaklawn Handicap (G2).

"It's a big transition from (age) 3 to 4, and he made the transition we hoped he would," trainer Bret Calhoun said of By My Standards. "He is just a stronger version of what he was last year."

Gabriel Saez will return in the irons aboard the Allied Racing Stable-owned son of Goldencents .

Calhoun also starts Tom Durant's Silver Dust, the winner of the Feb. 15 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Since then, he was fourth in the New Orleans Classic following a slow start and a close third in the one-mile Blame Stakes May 23 at Churchill Downs after pressing fast fractions.

"He might be a hair behind some of those other horses in there," Calhoun said. "However, if the favorites don't show up or get a bad trip or something, he's very, very capable of winning this race."

Adam Beschizza will have the mount.

Trying to catch these rivals will be Rupp Racing's Owendale, who rallied from far back to win the Blame. The Brad Cox trainee won the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3), Ohio Derby (G3), and Oklahoma Derby (G3) last year as a 3-year-old. Florent Geroux will ride.

Though the Stephen Foster has been a nighttime race in recent years, it will be run during the late afternoon Saturday with post time slated for 5:47 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast on NBC during an hour-long program that begins at 5 p.m. The Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2)—a race that drew champion Midnight Bisou—will be run at 5:15 p.m.

As part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series, the winner of the Stephen Foster will get an automatic, expenses-paid berth to the Longines Classic, and the winner of the Fleur de Lis will receive a berth to the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). Both races will be held Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

Saturday completes the spring meet stakes at Churchill Downs. Closing day is June 28 before racing in Kentucky shifts to Ellis Park July 2. The Henderson track will pause its summer meet for a week to allow Keeneland to run July 8-12. 

Entries: Stephen Foster S. (G2)

Churchill Downs, Saturday, June 27, 2020, Race 10

• Grade II
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $500,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 5:47 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Fearless (KY)	John R. Velazquez	120	Todd A. Pletcher	12/1
2	2Pirate's Punch (KY)	Mike E. Smith	120	Grant T. Forster	15/1
3	3Alkhaatam (KY)	Declan Cannon	120	Daniel C. Peitz	30/1
4	4Multiplier (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	120	Peter Miller	10/1
5	5Tom's d'Etat (KY)	Miguel Mena	124	Albert M. Stall, Jr.	1/1
6	6By My Standards (KY)	Gabriel Saez	122	W. Bret Calhoun	5/2
7	7Silver Dust (KY)	Adam Beschizza	120	W. Bret Calhoun	10/1
8	8Owendale (KY)	Florent Geroux	120	Brad H. Cox	4/1