Bensons fire double barrels in Louisiana Derby
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
NEW ORLEANS – The Saints didn’t make the NFL playoffs this year, and the Pelicans aren’t going to make the NBA playoffs either, but Tom Benson, the New Orleans-born and raised owner of both teams, and his wife, Gayle, still are very much in the Kentucky Derby playoffs.
Mo Tom and Tom’s Ready, both of whom compete for Gayle’s GMB Racing, could earn their way into the May 7 Kentucky Derby on Saturday when they compete in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby, the richest and most significant of the – gulp – 15 races to be contested on the penultimate day of the season here at Fair Grounds.
Mo Tom, the winner of the Lecomte Stakes and a troubled third in the Risen Star in two earlier starts at this meet, is the 5-2 favorite on the morning line of Mike Diliberto of Fair Grounds. Tom’s Ready, second in the Lecomte and then seventh in the Risen Star, is 15-1.
Tom Amoss, a native of New Orleans himself, trains Mo Tom. Dallas Stewart, born in neighboring Mississippi but a fixture here in the winter for nearly two decades, trains Tom’s Ready.
All runners carry 122 pounds, but Amoss admitted that there’s extra weight being carried symbolically by Mo Tom, who will be ridden by Louisiana native Corey Lanerie. Amoss would dearly love to win the race for the Bensons, and for himself. He has never won the Louisiana Derby.
“I really don’t want to let anybody down,” Amoss said the other day on a national teleconference.
The 1 1/8-mile Louisiana Derby includes the first four finishers out of the 1 1/16-mile Risen Star – Gun Runner, Forevamo, Mo Tom, and Candy My Boy – which was run over a track that favored inside lanes. There are some intriguing shippers, most notably Greenpointcrusader, who was second to current Kentucky Derby favorite Mohaymen in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream two months ago, and the lightly raced Dazzling Gem, unbeaten in two starts and making his stakes debut.
In addition to the lucrative prize money, the Louisiana Derby is worth 170 points overall – including 100 for first – under the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the field for the Kentucky Derby.
Preceding the Louisiana Derby, which goes as race 10, are the New Orleans Handicap for older dirt runners, the Mervin Muniz for older grass runners, and the Fair Grounds Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. All are Grade 2 races. They comprise an all-stakes pick four.
There are five other stakes on the card. First post is 12:30 p.m. Central, with the last race scheduled for seven hours later. Get tied on.
Louisiana Derby, Race 10
KEY CONTENDERS
Mo Tom, by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 87-88-85
◗ There was plenty of pace to set up his rush last time, and he was closing stoutly when forced to check and alter course.
“It broke his momentum,” Amoss said. “The race was lost, but he got started again and had a furious finish.”
◗ Amoss said Mo Tom “is a very determined horse.”
“He’s not just picking up pieces,” Amoss said. “He has a devastating quarter-mile run.”
Tom’s Ready, by More Than Ready
Last 3 Beyers: 69-84-84
◗ He was caught quite wide the entire way in the Risen Star, a position that gave him no chance over a track where being on the rail was paramount to success.
“He’s had a really good three weeks,” said Stewart, who won this race in 1999 with Kimberlite Pipe. “He’s trained great, but he’s going to have to step up.”
Gun Runner, by Candy Ride
Last 3 Beyers: 90-82-84
◗ A winner of three of his four starts, he captured the Risen Star while making his first start in nearly three months.
“We’ve always thought he was a talented horse,” said trainer Steve Asmussen. “We chose a path to give him far more spacing than is typical for a 3-year-old this time of year, which should allow him to be the best horse he can be in the future.”
Forevamo, by Uncle Mo
Last 3 Beyers: 89-81-69
◗He has run the two best races of his career over this track, including his second last time out in the Risen Star. He has had a flawless time since then, according to trainer Al Stall Jr.
“We’ve gone from Point A to Point B with no hiccups. Hasn’t missed an oat or a breeze,” said Stall, who said he believes Forevamo is coming up to his best race yet. “It’s palpable,” he said.
Greenpointcrusader, by Bernardini
Last 3 Beyers: 90-82-94
◗He was second to Mohaymen in the Holy Bull, but his best races have been around one turn, so he must prove that 1 1/8 miles, let alone the Kentucky Derby’s 1 1/4 miles, is within his range right now.
◗ This will be his first start in nearly two months and his only scheduled start between Jan. 30 and the Kentucky Derby.
Candy My Boy, by Candy Ride
Last 3 Beyers: 86-85-71
◗ Though he benefited from the rail bias in the Risen Star when finishing fourth, he had to be used hard early from his outside post to get position and set swift fractions. He may be able to get away with a softer pace this time.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Battery. Beat six runners in his maiden win Nov. 21; the combined record of those runners since is 17-0-4-1. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 9 Dazzling Gem. Trainer Brad Cox is 20-6-1-3 with a $3.46 ROI over the past five years in graded stakes with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan