Seeking the Soul, Tom's d'Etat breeze briskly for Pegasus World Cup
NEW ORLEANS – Fair Grounds-based Pegasus World Cup hopefuls Seeking the Soul and Tom’s d’Etat both were in good shape Sunday morning following five-furlong Saturday works, their trainers reported.
Seeking the Soul worked in a co-bullet 1:00 on a busy Saturday work tab. The winner of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap in 2017 before finishing fifth in last year’s Pegasus has been breezing faster in recent weeks at Fair Grounds than ever before in his career, turning in a six-furlong move in 1:11 and five-eighths in 59.60 last weekend.
“Another good work,” trainer Dallas Stewart said of the Saturday breeze. “He’s really doing excellent.”
Stewart said he wasn’t sure when Seeking the Soul would have his final Fair Grounds work before shipping to Florida for the Pegasus. That’s also the case with trainer Al Stall, though Stall said he was leaning toward a last drill next Sunday after Tom’s d’Etat tied Saturday morning’s best time of 1:00.
“There’s a chance of rain Friday and Saturday, and since he went that quick yesterday, I’m thinking more of Sunday,” Stall said.
Tom’s d’Etat will be making his graded stakes debut in the Pegasus after winning the Tenacious Stakes here last month in his stakes debut. The Pegasus marks his third start following a year-plus layoff, Stall hopes the horse is coming to a peak, and Tom’s d’Etat’s 106 Beyer Speed Figure from a summer 2017 allowance at Saratoga suggests he’s fast enough on his best day to make a mark in a race like the Pegasus.
