Mo Tom returns to New Orleans fresh and fit

Mo Tom is back at Fair Grounds and has unfinished business in New Orleans.

The 3-year-old Mo Tom won the Lecomte Stakes in January, then finished a very troubled third in the Risen Star Stakes and a similarly unlucky fourth in the Louisiana Derby. Mo Tom almost certainly would have won the Risen Star had he found clear passage and at worst would have run second in the Louisiana Derby. Gun Runner, who most recently beat older horses in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, won both of those races.

Mo Tom got in less trouble but still lacked a clear run when he finished ninth in the Kentucky Derby, but he appeared to be back on the right track when he made a strong outside move to capture the $500,000 Ohio Derby on June 27. But that’s when Mo Tom’s well-being began to erode, and by the time he raced again in the Super Derby on Sept. 10, Mo Tom was a shadow of his best self, checking in a meek fifth.

“About three days after that race, he went to Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky,” said Tom Amoss, who trains Mo Tom for Gayle Benson’s GMB Racing. “He had about 60 days there on a program of turnout, paddock rest, and weight gain, and he looks fantastic now. They didn’t do a good job with him – they did a great job.”

Amoss said Mo Tom had a bone scan after leaving the track that checked out negative. He had no significant injury and just was a horse who “definitely needed a break.” Tall and lean, Mo Tom “always was a horse it was hard to keep weight on,” said Amoss, who hopes that maturity and time away from the grind of racetrack life have produced a more robust animal.

“I’m really expecting and anticipating a good 4-year-old campaign from him,” Amoss said. “Our goal is to make the New Orleans Handicap with at least one prep.”

Mo Tom arrived at Churchill Downs in late November and shipped to Fair Grounds the weekend after Thanksgiving. He was to begin galloping this week, and if all goes well, the Mineshaft Handicap on Feb. 25 would be a reasonable comeback spot.