TOM’S D’ETAT wins $150,000 Oaklawn Mile.
HOT SPRINGS — Tom’s d’Etat, the 4-5 favorite, came from 41/2months off and 2 lengths back at the head of the stretch to pass Improbable and hold on for a 3/4-length win in the $150,000 Oaklawn Mile Stakes for horses 4-years-old and up on a wet-fast track at Oaklawn on Saturday.
“I wasn’t extremely confident about this particular race,” winning trainer Albert Stall said. “I was extremely confident in the horse himself. I couldn’t be any more happy about how this turned out and the type of race he had.”
G M B Racing’s Tom’s d’Etat, a 7-year-old son of Smart Strike ridden by Joel Rosario, won in 1:35.83, the fastest mile time at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort this season. Improbable was second, 2 lengths in front of third-place Bankit, from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Heads Up Racing’s Pioneer Spirit, ridden by David Cohen and trained by Robertino Diodoro, finished fourth in the field of 11, 71/4 lengths behind the winner.
Home Run Trick, Kershaw, and M G Warrior scratched.
Stall said he was unconcerned by heavy rainfall late in the afternoon.
“It looked like underneath the seal, the track was still dry,” Stall said.
Oaklawn has not allowed fans to attend racing at the track since March 13, a measure put in place as its part to slow the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic.
The top three favorites, including Mr. Money who finished sixth, 103/4 lengths behind the winner, made the Oaklawn Mile their first starts of 2020. Improbable, ridden by Drayden Van Dyke at 3-1 from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, and Mr. Money hadn’t raced for over five months, but they and Tom’s d’Etat brought evidence of class and strings of works adequate to draw bettors’ interest regardless of their time away.
In Tom’s d’Etat’s last race before the Oaklawn Mile, he won the Grade I 11/8-mile Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29.
Stall said he had originally planned to begin Tom’s d’Etat’s season at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on the same date as the Oaklawn Mile, but he opted to ship him to Oaklawn after Keeneland postponed its season because of the pandemic.
Improbable, a 4-year-old son of City Zip shipped from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s southern California stables, had not raced since he finished fifth in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Santa Anita Park on Nov. 2.
The Oaklawn Mile was Improbable’s third career start at the track. Last season, he finished second, as the 3-5 favorite, in Oaklawn’s Grade II 1 1/16-mile Rebel Stakes and the Grade I 11/8-mile Arkansas Derby.
Pioneer Spirit led the field through three-quarters of a mile in 1:10.34, at which point Tom’s d’Etat had closed from as many as 71/4 lengths back in seventh to 41/4 back in sixth. Pioneer Spirit began with an opening quarter-mile in 22.90 and the first half-mile in 46.09.
Tom’s d’Etat passed Improbable with 100 yards to run.
“Joel did what he does,” Stall said. “When he got him out of that pack, and he got him out clear, it’s amazing how that kid can ride a horse in a big race and never use his stick. I mean, how does that happen, right? It’s like a quarterback throwing to a receiver and not worrying about getting hammered. They just focus on what they have to do. That’s what he’s all about.”