Amoss Believes Lanerie Best Fit for Mo Tom

Trainer Tom Amoss believes jockey Corey Lanerie is a great fit for Mo Tom in the May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

Amoss' faith in Lanerie may sound a bit strange from a trainer who vocally questioned Lanerie's ride in the TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (gr. II) in which G M B Racing's Mo Tom checked badly in the stretch under Lanerie and finished fourth. The performance nearly cost Mo Tom a spot in the Derby, but he'll get in as the 20th horse on the points list.

Though the trouble cost Mo Tom all chance of winning, Lanerie rode hard to the end to edge fifth-place Forevamo by a head, and the fourth-place finish proved critical as Mo Tom picked up 10 Road to the Kentucky Derby points.

While the Louisiana Derby marked the second straight troubled trip for Mo Tom under Lanerie—they also checked sharply near the three-sixteenths pole of the Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) in which they finished third—Amoss has confidence in the veteran Kentucky-based rider who has dominated the Churchill Downs leaderboard in recent years.

"Corey knows this track better than anybody and he knows my horse better than anybody," Amoss said. "We feel blessed to have him."

Lanerie finished 16th in his lone previous Derby mount, aboard Harry's Holiday in 2014. But at age 42, the rider originally from Lafayette, La., has been hitting his stride in recent seasons.

Lanerie has won two straight spring meets and three of the past four. He has won or tied for leading rider honors at eight straight Churchill meets—spring, September, and fall—and enters this year's Churchill meet off a Keeneland spring where he ranked second in wins and rallied to victory aboard Weep No More in the Central Bank Ashland Stakes (gr. I). Three of his four career grade I wins have come in 2015 and 2016.

Amoss said despite the recent race problems aboard Mo Tom, Lanerie is a great fit for the son of Uncle Mo  .

"He gets along with him great and also knows his nuances," Amoss said. "That may sound like a contradiction, but he does. The thing about Mo Tom is that he has this switch; he turns it off out of the gate and relaxes, but when you turn that switch on, he goes in a hurry. I think it has surprised a lot of people. With Corey on him, he knows that when he turns that switch on, it's go time.

"Corey also knows how long he can carry that kick, and it's more than the average horse. Those aren't things you can describe to a rider who has never ridden him in a race. We feel lucky to have him."

After the Louisiana Derby, Amoss vocally made Lanerie aware of his disapproval of the ride. Lanerie himself took the blame for the fourth-place finish.

"It was a bad ride and totally my fault," Lanerie said. "He came underneath me and I had more horse than I knew what to do with and I got him in trouble and went inside when I shouldn't have. I doubt they'll let me sit on him again. He's a great horse."

Amoss soon apologized to the rider for the post-race outburst.

"Within 20 minutes after the race I'd apologized to Corey," Amoss said. "Right after a race, there's a lot of raw emotion, winning and losing. Unfortunately that was some raw emotion on my part but it has no bearing on anything. Corey and I have been friends for over 20 years."

"A lot has been written about my blow-up after the Louisiana Derby which, for the record, was totally uncalled for. Corey's handling of it was a class act all the way. Corey had every opportunity to throw me under the bus but instead he said, 'I think I would have done the same thing if I was Tom after that race.' That says a lot about the kind of guy that Corey is."