Tom's d'Etat has rich pedigree

Tom’s d’Etat, one of the last significant sons of the late leading sire Smart Strike, stamped himself as a major stallion prospect upon his eventual retirement by adding a Grade 1 victory to his résumé in the Clark at Churchill Downs last Friday. Not only is he by Smart Strike, he is from the immediate female family of another prominent sire.

Tom’s d’Etat, who races for Gayle Benson’s GMB Racing, is out of the stakes-winning Florida-bred Julia Tuttle. That Giant’s Causeway mare is out of the Argentinean-born Candy Cane, a full sister to Candy Ride, the sire of multiple Eclipse Award winners.

Tom’s d’Etat is the third foal and only stakes horse to date out of Julia Tuttle, who resides at Dixiana Farm after being purchased for $250,000 by that outfit at the 2014 Keeneland November breeding stock sale. In addition to the Clark, Tom’s d’Etat, who returned from a layoff of well more than a year for a 6-year-old campaign, won the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland and the listed Alydar at Saratoga, and was second in Alysheba and third in the Stephen Foster, both Grade 2 events at Churchill Downs.

Julia Tuttle, the dam of three winners from five starters overall, is the dam of the unraced juvenile Lokoya Road, a Quality Road colt who has been breezing steadily. The mare delivered a Connect filly in February and was bred to Nyquist for next year.

In addition to stakes winner Julia Tuttle, Candy Cane, a winning daughter of Ride the Rails, is the dam of two other stakes-placed runners. Her dam, Candy Girl, an unraced Candy Stripes mare, produced 10 winners from 11 starters, led by Candy Ride, an unbeaten champion in Argentina and Grade 1 winner in the United States. Candy Girl also produced Group 3 winners Candy Apple and Candy Singer.