Risen Star Can Serve as Gauge for Mo Tom

Trainer Tom Amoss said the field for the Feb. 20 Veterans Ford Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots is one of the deepest he has seen at the Louisiana track, and he believes that's good for Mo Tom, the 3-year-old Uncle Mo   colt he trains for G M B Racing.

Mo Tom, never worse than third in five starts, is the 3-1 second choice in the morning line behind John Oxley's Airoforce, who won last year's Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II) over eventual Los Alamitos Futurity (gr. I) winner Mor Spirit and Mo Tom in his first start on dirt.

Mo Tom, acquired by G M B Racing for $150,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale, won the Lecomte Stakes (gr. III) at Fair Grounds in his last start Jan. 16 and last year won the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. He railled from 10 lengths back at the half-mile mark to win the Lecomte after a troubled start.

"This is an opportunity to gauge my horse as a 3-year-old with more experience as opposed to when they met when they were 2," Amoss said of Mo Tom and Airoforce. "He's a May foal and he's really yet to develop physically in my opinion, but we're starting to see it."

Mo Tom has registered two half-mile works and one at five furlongs since the Jan. 16 Lecomte. The colt drew post 2 in a 13-horse field in the Risen Star, and Amoss said that should suit Mo Tom's running style.

"I like the post," Amoss said. "He's a one-run horse, and being down near the rail will allow him to sit and then make his run."

The Risen Star, at 1 1/16 miles, also attracted Tom's Ready and Uncle Walter, the second- and third-place finishers, respectively, in the Lecomte. Tom's Ready, also owned by G M B Racing but trained by Dallas Stewart, has one win in seven starts but is on the improve; Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Uncle Walter has a win, second, and third in only three starts.