Tom Fool performance wows Mind Control's connections

Mind Control has given his connections some memorable performances, including two Grade 1 victories at Saratoga, but he may have never been more impressive than he was winning Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct.

After stumbling at the break and falling seven lengths off the pace after a half-mile, Mind Control came with a furious late rally under Junior Alvarado to win the Tom Fool by 1 1/4 lengths over a seemingly home-free Happy Farm.

“It was probably one of his better performances,” trainer Gregg Sacco said Sunday. “The Jerkens was hard to top, but stumbling out of the gate, losing position, to run down that horse, it was pretty eye-popping watching him fly down the stretch.”

Last summer, Mind Control made up three lengths in the final furlong to run down Hog Creek Hustle in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens, at seven furlongs. Saturday’s victory came at a six-furlong distance at which Mind Control hadn’t run since his maiden victory as a 2-year-old. It also came under a 125-pound impost, where he spotted the runner-up two pounds and the third- and fourth-place finishers nine pounds.

Mind Control ran six furlongs in 1:10.88 over a dull track and earned a career-best 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

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Sacco said Mind Control came out of the race well and will now be aimed at the Grade 1 Carter here on April 4. Sacco had originally planned to train Mind Control from the Toboggan, which he won by a nose over Nicodemus on Jan. 18, to the Carter.

“He was so sharp, we just felt the timing was good to run him and we’d still have plenty of time to prepare for the Carter,” Sacco said. “He came through for us, fortunately for us, he makes us look good.”

While Mind Control continued his success, Sacco said Joevia, who finished last in Saturday’s Stymie Stakes, will need throat surgery.

Sacco said Joevia displaced his soft palate and will undergo a surgical procedure known as a Llewellyn, which cuts a piece of the palate so it does not obstruct the airway.

Sacco said the surgery would likely be done this week then Joevia, third in last year’s Belmont Stakes, would get a few weeks off at the farm with a mid-to-late spring return to the races likely.