After looking home free, Tip Top Thomas just hangs on in Smarty Jones

Tip Top Thomas entered the $200,000 Smarty Jones at Parx Racing on Tuesday as a heavy favorite, but he was far from a runaway winner. Todd Pletcher’s 3-year-old colt had everything his way on the front end, but he had to turn away determined spoiler Fact several times to prevail in a photo finish.

“The runner-up ran a big race,” Pletcher said. “Kept us honest to the wire. Thankfully, we had enough left to hold on.”

Tip Top Thomas entered the Smarty Jones off a victory in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby, in which he defeated two-time stakes winner Instant Replay. They were supposed to be rematched at Parx on Tuesday, but when trainer Brad Cox scratched Instant Replay, Tip Top Thomas became an overwhelming 2-5 favorite. He paid $2.80 to win, though his advantage at the wire was not nearly as decisive as it was on the tote board.

Tip Top Thomas’s first run-in with Fact, a 3-year-old gelding trained by William Walden, occurred right out of the gate. Starting just outside of Fact who had the inside post, Tip Top Thomas and jockey John Velazquez broke a step quicker, ducked to the rail, and led into the first turn.

Fact and Luis Saez had to momentarily back out of tight quarters, but they were far from done. Once the gelding found running room entering the backstretch, he settled just to the outside of Tip Top Thomas as the early leader completed the opening quarter-mile in 24.12.

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The two front-runners carried on in similar formation for most of the backstretch, and the constant pressure seemed to wear on Tip Top Thomas, who quickened to complete the half-mile in 46.88.

Eager to dispatch his only nearby rival, Velazquez made an early request of Tip Top Thomas and urged him to a 2 1/2-length lead on the far turn. Even as he kicked clear, Pletcher said he was concerned when his colt blasted through six furlongs in 1:10.29.

Though he had been repelled on the front end, Fact entered the stretch seven lengths ahead of his next rival, and he didn’t simply run on from there. Instead, when Tip Top Thomas tired late, Saez asked his gelding for one more rally and he delivered, closing fast but ultimately running out of room. Tip Top Thomas prevailed by a head, completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.50.

“I was a little worried that the [fractions] could pay a toll down the lane,” Pletcher said. “But it looked like, on the gallop-out, he still maintained an advantage. Who knows, he might have had a little more left in the tank. Seems to be a fighter when they come to him.”

Hypnus, a 3-year-old colt trained by Ken McPeek, picked off a few well-beaten stalkers to finish 9 1/4 lengths behind Fact in third.

Pletcher said that Tip Top Thomas was originally considered for the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby, and that plan is still tepidly under consideration. The trainer noted the expected strength of that race next month, which could lead the colt elsewhere.

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