Tom’s Ready Finds Way in Woody Stephens

Zigzagging down the stretch to find running room between horses, Tom's Ready punched through late to score a clear victory in the $500,000 Woody Stephens Stakes (gr. II) June 11 at Belmont Park. 

Last early in the field of a dozen 3-year-olds in the seven-furlong sprint, the GMB Racing runner found his best stride late under Joel Rosario, initially rallying between horses in early stretch, angling outside for additional run, then cutting back between additional rivals late to score by 1 1/4 lengths over longshot Fish Trappe Road.

"I could see they were drifting out, so I kind of took a position to get inside, because at that time I didn't want to stop the momentum," Rosario said. "He was coming and running really hard at the end. I just didn't want to stop him."

Completing Saturday's test in 1:21.38, Tom's Ready secured his first stakes win after knocking on the door several times, including runner-up finishes this year in both the Lecomte Stakes (gr. III) and the Louisiana Derby (gr. II). Tom's Ready entered Saturday's race off a 12th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

Trained by Dallas Stewart, the Woody Stephens marked the first sprint try for Tom's Ready since he scored a front-running maiden special weight win in September 2015 at Churchill Downs. Stewart plans to keep him sprinting, with an eye to the King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) against 3-year-olds at Saratoga Race Course. The More Than Ready   colt has shifted into more of closing style since that effort.

"I thought he'd be laying fourth or fifth and make that punch, but obviously he likes this one-turn stuff, laying back and moving strong like this," Stewart said. "I think we'll keep him at one turn. He won't run a lot more. He's run hard all year. I'm going to freshen him up and point him to maybe the King's Bishop at Saratoga and then the Breeders' Cup (Sprint)."

Tom's Ready returned $17.40, $9.20, and $6.30 across the board while Martin Racing Stable's Fish Trappe Road, who earned his first graded stakes placing, returned $20.60 to place and $11.80 to show. Calumet Farm's Star Hill secured his third graded stakes placing in his past four starts and paid $7.40 to show.

Early in the Woody Stephens, recent Chick Lang Stakes winner Justin Squared and Martin Pedroza led the field through a quarter mile in :21.77 and a half mile in :44.40 while tracked by Fish Trappe Road, who took over coming out of the turn and opened a clear lead in the stretch. But with the blinkers off and able to see where racing room was available, Tom's Ready would rally strongly in the final three furlongs to secure the win, while Justin Squared faded to 11th.

"That was a great ride, wasn't it? The way he rode this horse, was like an [Angel] Cordero ride. He came running," said Stewart, crediting his former boss D. Wayne Lukas. "I took a shot taking the blinkers off because he looks around. I took them off for his work and he worked good. It's like Wayne Lukas always taught us; don't be afraid to take a shot. Make a change sometimes and see what happens."

Tom's Ready was bred in Pennsylvania by Blackstone Farm. He is out of the Broad Brush mare Goodbye Stranger. GMB Racing landed Tom's Ready for $145,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to the 2014 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearlings sale.