In Lecomte, Mo Tom takes first step on road to Louisiana Derby
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Tom Amoss has been saying it to anyone who will listen: The Lecomte Stakes merely is a stepping-stone for Mo Tom.
“Our plan is to use the Lecomte and the Risen Star to get Mo Tom to the Louisiana Derby,” Amoss said Thursday, and there were other similar remarks. “Every race for Mo Tom isn’t necessarily going to be better and better. It’s not a straight line.”
And so on.
But the fact that Amoss has tried tamping down expectations accentuates this accompanying fact: Mo Tom clearly is a talented 3-year-old with upside. If he continues developing, he could be a serious colt, and though the Lecomte is a means to an end, Mo Tom still can win it.
Mo Tom was one of 15 entered in the Lecomte way back on Jan. 8, but four horses are expected to be scratched. Noble Thought was injured, while Battle Tap, Indygo Breeze, and Tarpon Bay Road all have other race options. The also-eligible Tom’s Ready will draw in, and trainer Dallas Stewart said the colt will run.
The Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte, to be contested at one mile and 70 yards, is the 11th of 12 races on a strong card (first post 12:30 p.m. Central) that includes four other stakes. The Grade 3 Col. E.R. Bradley matches Chocolate Ride and String King, while the Silverbulletday marks the 3-year-old debut for the talented Stageplay. Eagle will be solidly favored in the Louisiana, while the Marie Krantz, for older turf-route fillies, has no such obvious choice. Post time for the Lecomte, a Kentucky Derby qualifying race offering points on a 10-4-2-1 basis, is 5:27. The forecast calls for a 20 percent chance of showers.
KEY CONTENDERS
Mo Tom (Last 3 Beyers: 85-80-65)
◗ He rallied from the back and got through along the rail in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes but switched his leads while gaining past the eighth pole, costing him momentum and a chance to win. He finished third behind Airoforce and Mor Spirit. Amoss said no one’s sure why Mo Tom swapped leads, but the working theory is that a wet track under lights made the surface of the track “look like a sheet of glass, and Mo Tom was uncertain of his footing.”
◗ Mo Tom has run well in all four of his races, but in a Keeneland sprint and in the Kentucky Jockey Club, he really lost touch with the field in the early part of the race. “Things like a shadow roll and blinkers have been suggested, but I don’t want to do that,” said Amoss. “I don’t know that you want to change a horse’s natural running style. That can lead to disaster.”
◗ Corey Lanerie is in from Florida to ride Mo Tom in the Lecomte, which is 40 yards shorter than the Kentucky Jockey Club.
Uncle Walter (Beyers: 84-73)
◗ Capitalized on an outside bias to rally wide for a debut win at Keeneland and validated his potential with a close second to the talented Synchrony in a Churchill Downs 7 1/2-furlong allowance race second out. “He’s been working out sensationally at Gulfstream Park,” said co-owner Ken Ramsey. “He’s the leading prospect right now to get us to the Kentucky Derby.”
◗ Ramsey and trainer Mike Maker have won the Lecomte two years running, with Vicar’s in Trouble and International Star. Maker said Uncle Walter was immature early in his 2-year-old season but has grown and changed for the better over the last several months. He makes his two-turn debut and should get the trip.
Dolphus (Beyers: 64-82)
◗ The half-brother to Rachel Alexandra won his sprint debut and was a better-than-it-looks third three weeks later in a two-turn allowance race, where he contested a quick pace, put his head in front at the top of the stretch, but ran out of gas to finish third. “He’s definitely tucked up, looking more athletic, looking more race-fit,” said trainer Joe Sharp. “He got a little tired, and we’re very optimistic he’s going to move forward. He’s probably not going to be as close to the lead this time.”
Destin (Beyers: 79-65)
◗ Races with blinkers on for Todd Pletcher, who has won the Risen Star Stakes here twice and the Louisiana Derby three times but never the Lecomte.
◗ He is drawn in post 13 and makes his first start around two turns, but farther is better, Pletcher believes. “He’s a mile-and-an-eighth, mile-and-a-quarter horse,” he said. “Everything about him indicates he wants two turns. Post position and lack of experience – that’s of greater concern.”
Pinnacle Peak (Last 3 Beyers: 89-46-44)
◗ A different horse when he’s on the lead, and he looms as the likely pacesetter. Was twice challenged in the stretch and gamely won a two-turn allowance here last month.