G M B Racing's Tom's d'Etat (Smart Strike) breezed six furlongs in a strong 1:12.80 Saturday morning at Churchill Downs as he continues his preparations for the GII Stephen Foster S. June 27.
“The most incredible thing about his work this morning was it hardly looked like he even did anything but he just cruised out there,” trainer Al Stall, Jr. told the Churchill notes team. “Now, he's back in his stall and doesn't even seemed like any of it phased him one bit.”
The 7-year-old entire, third to Seeking the Soul (Perfect Soul {Ire}) in last year's Foster, powered away to win the GI Clark H. over the course and nine-furlong distance in his seasonal finale Nov. 29 and most recently returned to action with a 3/4-length defeat of 'TDN Rising Star' Improbable (City Zip) in the Apr. 11 Oaklawn Mile S. He was under consideration for the May 23 Blame S., won by Clark runner-up Owendale (Into Mischief), but was given the green light to train up to the Foster.
“He has a history of running well off layoffs,” Stall said. “He's never really left form even after he was freshened at Fair Grounds this winter when we were getting him ready for the second half of the year. We are right on schedule with him. We had talked about the [one-mile] Blame as a prep, but when the schedule was shuffled around, we just decided to stick with the plan to run him in the Foster. We originally targeted the [GIII] Ben Ali on Apr. 11 at Keeneland, but after that was canceled we were fortunate enough to run in a short-stretch one-mile race at Oaklawn.”
Owendale is also a candidate for the Foster, a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7.
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