Tom's d'Etat's patience pays off in Tenacious Stakes

Tom’s d’Etat turns 6 in a couple weeks. His stakes debut had been a long time coming, and he won it Saturday at Fair Grounds in front of the home crowd with the Tenacious Stakes.

Gayle Benson’s GMB Racing paid $335,000 to acquire Tom’s d’Etat as a yearling in 2014. One look at him and you can see why. He’s a massive, gorgeous specimen, but a horse who has struggled to stay sound. The $75,000 Tenacious Stakes on Saturday marked only his ninth trip to the post. Favored at odds of 7-10, Tom’s d’Etat surged to the lead at the top of the stretch and drew away to a popular 3 1/2-length victory.

“He’s a real racehorse,” trainer Al Stall said. “It’s all about keeping him in one piece, because the talent’s all there.”

Gayle Benson is the widow of Tom Benson, who passed away last year, and owns the New Orleans Saints professional football team and the New Orleans Pelicans professional basketball team.

Tom’s d’Etat, making his second start after a leg fracture cost him more than a year of racing, typically has raced on or just off the pace, but on Saturday he settled fifth, then fourth, under Shaun Bridgmohan as Colonelsdarktemper led Snapper Sinclair through solid splits of 23.60 and 47.27. Tom’s d’Etat gathered momentum at the half-mile pole, but had to come three and four paths wide closing on the leaders around the far turn.

He moved up steadily, reached the front at the quarter-pole, and drew steadily clear through the homestretch under relatively vigorous encouragement from Bridgmohan. Tom’s d’Etat ($3.40) strode nicely under the wire, stopping the timer in a good 1:42.49 for one mile and 70 yards on a fast track and galloping-out like the staying horse he appears to be.

Phat Man followed along in Tom’s d’Etat’s wake and while never threatening the leader fin-ished second by two lengths over Pioneer Spirit.

Tom’s d’Etat is by Smart Strike out of the stakes-winning Giant’s Causeway mare, Julia Tuttle. He ran his career record to a flashy 9-6-1-0.

The first stakes out of the way, Tom’s d’Etat’s camp can look forward to a graded race in 2019 – inasmuch as that’s possible with him.

“Our crew worked extremely hard on this horse,” Stall said. “He’s been a day-to-day horse, sometimes an hour-to-hour horse.”

Late Saturday afternoon in New Orleans, at least, Tom’s d’Etat was on his game.