Tom's d'Etat scheduled for final Pegasus work
NEW ORLEANS – Intended Pegasus World Cup runner Tom’s d’Etat will have his final work before the race Sunday at Fair Grounds.
It’s a big day for the horse’s connections: Gayle Benson’s GMB Racing owns Tom’s d’Etat, and the Benson family also owns the New Orleans Saints, who have a National Football League playoff game Sunday afternoon.
Six-year-old Tom’s d’Etat has shown talent from early in his career, but has had difficulty staying sound enough to get into an extended racing pattern. He won the Tenacious Stakes here last out and will be making his third start following a year-plus layoff in the Pegasus.
Tom’s d’Etat will ship to Florida along with a second Pegasus runner, Seeking the Soul. Trainer Dallas Stewart, as of Thursday, hadn’t fully decided when Seeking the Soul would work, saying his breeze day depended on the weather. Thunderstorms were forecast here Saturday morning while Sunday is supposed to be cold but dry.
◗ The Sunday feature at Fair Grounds comes early. Race 1 is a second-level turf-sprint allowance race with a $40,000 claiming option, the highest-class fare on a program limited to eight races because of the New Orleans Saints playoff game that starts at 2:05 p.m.
The 3-1 morning-line favorite is Speight Swiftly, a 6-year-old who might be too fast for his own good. Speight Swiftly has managed only six starts, and was third at roughly this class level Dec. 8 at Woodbine. He has gotten onto a steady work pattern since joining trainer Mark Casse’s Fair Grounds string. Speight Swiftly might well take his chances on dirt should Sunday’s races be rained off turf after a wet Saturday.
