Tom's d'Etat on target for New Orleans Handicap

Trainer Al Stall held Tom’s d’Etat off the work tab this past weekend, but the horse remains on track to start March 23 in the New Orleans Handicap.

Tom’s d’Etat comfortably won the Tenacious Stakes on Dec. 22 at Fair Grounds, but finished a distant, disappointing ninth making his graded stakes debut in the Pegasus World Cup, perhaps failing to handle a sloppy Gulfstream Park track surface. Tom’s d’Etat worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds but has since stuck to gallops rather than timed work.

“We just skipped this week,” Stall said. “He’ll start back next weekend, go three [works] in a row, then run.”

Stall also revealed plans to move the impressive 3-year-old debut winner Get the Prize out to a two-turn start during the Keeneland meet in April. Get the Prize is by Candy Ride out of a Giant’s Causeway mare and has long-distance turf blood in his female family, but debuting in a dirt sprint Feb. 16 he went straight to the front, set a strong pace, and won by nearly three lengths, earning an 87 Beyer Speed Figure for going six furlongs in 1:09.85.

“I wasn’t sure how much early speed he even had, much less going [an opening quarter-mile] in 22 [seconds] with his neck bowed,” Stall said. “When I’ve worked him behind horses, he’s been beautiful.”