Tom's d'Etat has look of a Woodward horse

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Add Tom’s d’Etat to the list of potential contenders for the Grade 1 Woodward on Sept. 2 following his nine-length allowance win over a “good” track on Thursday. The victory was the fourth in the last five starts for the steadily improving son of Smart Strike, and it earned him a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure.

Tom’s d’Etat was also impressive in winning his maiden here last summer before being sent to the sidelines for the next 7 1/2 months by trainer Al Stall Jr. Stall said he had planned to run Tom’s d’Etat in the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs last year but changed plans when the horse came out of a work with a problem.

“I’m still not sure what the problem was,” he said. “So, we gave him a bunch of time off, started all over again, and he came back a real beast.”

Tom’s d’Etat won a pair of allowance races rather easily once launching his 4-year-old campaign before taking his game to an even higher level with his easy win under Joel Rosario on Thursday.

“Off this performance, I’m excited about going forward because this horse still doesn’t know how to run,” Stall said. “Joel said when he made the lead, his head came up and his ears went forward. He’s just like a big kid – he’s still learning.”