Tom’s D’Etat Gains Breeders’ Cup Classic Spot With Stephen Foster Triumph

Gayle Benson's 7-year-old Tom's d'Etat ($4.60) took control at the top of the stretch and swept to a  4 ¼-length victory under Miguel Mean in Saturday's Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and earned an automatic berth into the $7-million Longines  Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

The Breeders' Cup Challenge is an international series of stakes races whose winners receive automatic starting positions and fees paid into a corresponding race of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, which is scheduled to be held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on Nov. 6-7.

Tom's d'Etat, a bay Kentucky-bred son of Smart Strike trained by Al Stall Jr., completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.30, which is the second fastest time in the history of the Stephen Foster. It was his fourth consecutive win, following victories last year in the Fayette (G2) at Keeneland, the Clark (G1) at Churchill Downs, and this year in the Oaklawn Mile at Oaklawn Park on April 11.

Tom's d'Etat, joins Capital System's Mozu Ascot, winner of the February Stakes (G1) at Tokyo Racecourse on Feb. 23, as the first two horses to earn automatic berths into the Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be run at 1 ¼ miles at Keeneland.

Benson, who races under the name of GMB Racing, is the owner of the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans.

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Mean Mary Leads All The Way In New York Stakes For Fourth Straight Win

Alex G. Campbell, Jr.'s Mean Mary broke sharp from the outside post, led the six-horse field through every point of call and extended her lead in the stretch for a front-running 5 1/4-length score in Saturday's Grade 2, $250,000 New York for older fillies and mares at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trainer Graham Motion saw Mean Mary start her 4-year-old campaign with consecutive graded stakes wins at Gulfstream Park, starting with the Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January and the Grade 3 Orchid on March 28.

The Scat Daddy filly improved to 3-for-3 in her 2020 campaign, with Luis Saez sending her to the front, where she posted comfortable fractions of 25.11 seconds for the quarter-mile, 51.55 for the half and three-quarters in 1:16.28 on the inner turf course labeled firm even after a slight rain shower earlier.

Out of the far turn, Saez kept Mean Mary driven as she pulled away from the field, completing the 1 ¼-mile course in a final time of 2:01.85.

Mean Mary won for the fourth straight time overall and improved to 5-1-0 in seven career starts. Saez has been aboard for every start during the winning streak.

“I had a lot of confidence in her today,” Saez said. “She always does everything right. Today, she was just galloping. The track feels good today and I think the rain helped her. She was super relaxed, even more so than her last race. She feels better now than she did last time.”

Off at 6-5, Mean Mary returned $4.40 on a $2 win wager. The Kentucky homebred improved her career earnings to $396,160.

“You always wonder a little bit about Florida; did she just suit that course? But this is so different than running at Gulfstream,” Motion said. “The way she did it was pretty impressive. I worried a little bit. You always worry a little bit with that much time away and I wanted to keep her fresh, but she also had to be fit.

“The course took a little bit of rain, but it's so different than what she had been running on,” he added. “I think she might be one of those horses where you don't have to make too many excuses.”

My Sister Nat, one of two entrants for trainer Chad Brown, edged the Christophe Clement-trained Feel Glorious by a neck for second after rallying from sixth. That marked the second straight race the French-bred daughter of Acclamation finished as the runner up, following her North American graded stakes debut in the Grade 3 Long Island in November at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Call Me Love, also trained by Clement, ran fourth, followed by the Brown-conditioned Fools Gold and Valiance to complete the order of finish. Mrs. Sippy was scratched.

Live racing resumes Sunday with a nine-race card headlined by the $100,000 Bouwerie for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs on Belmont's Big Sandy in Race 8 at 5:04 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:15 p.m.

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Newspaperofrecord Wires GI Just a Game Field

Klaravich Stables’ Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) returned to her sensational juvenile form and proved her decisive score in the GIII Intercontinental S. last out was no fluke with a scintillating victory in the GI Just a Game S. at Belmont Saturday. Breaking on top, the even-money shot hustled out to a clear lead, doling out early splits of :23.79 and :48.1 with champion stablemate and slight favorite, also at even-money, Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) biding her time back off the pace in fourth. Newspaperofrecord was still well clear and under a hand ride from Irad Ortiz, Jr. on the backstretch, but Uni and fellow Brown runner and multiple graded winner Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) were revving up entering the far turn. There was a very brief moment where it looked like her barnmates would make a race of it exiting the bend, but Newspaperofrecord practically laughed them off, powering clear with ease for a dominant victory. Beau Recall (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) got up for second with Jose Ortiz aboard for an Ortiz-brother exacta and Uni held third.

We trained her lightly and she has been training very relaxed,” said trainer Chad Brown, who was winning his fourth straight renewal of the Just a Game. “Last time, she was going really fast and was a little fresh. Irad was confident that he could get her to rate a little bit. I loved our post today, off the fence a little bit. The last-minute showers didn’t hurt us either. We all know that she likes a little juice in the ground. It was a good effort after three weeks. I was very proud of her. My team has done a great job with her. She’s never looked better.”

When asked what’s next, the conditioner said, “I’m going to talk to [owner] Seth Klarman and see how she comes out of the race. She’s just had two big races back-to-back. With limited mile races out there, she may be another one that has to face the boys but I don’t want to commit her to that yet.”

“Going seven-eighths to a mile is good for her,” said Ortiz, who won five races at Belmont Saturday. “She can go further, too, and I would not be afraid to go a mile and a sixteenth. I just followed Chad’s instructions. She came back good and looks healthy and had a really good run. We ended last year a little disappointed, but she came back this year the right way. She’s two-for-two, so hopefully she keeps doing it.”

As for Uni, Brown said, “Uni has had a few bumps along the road. She needed some extra time off and had a late start. She popped a splint and we had to pull that out; she missed a couple of works. Although she’s run okay with some give in the ground, her best races really are on firm turf. Joel [Rosario] came back and said she was out of sorts having to move early off a moderate pace.”

Undefeated during her 2018 juvenile campaign, Newspaperofrecord won her debut, the GII Miss Grillo S. and the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf S. by a combined 20 lengths, all over yielding surfaces. Second to Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy) in the GIII Edgewood S. at Churchill last term, the bay completed the exacta behind her stablemate and eventual Grade I winner Cambier Parc (Medaglia d’Oro) in the nine-panel GIII Wonder Again S. here last summer. Fading to ninth behind Concrete Rose in the 1 1/4-mile GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. last July, Newspaperofrecord was subsequently shelved for the season and returned 11 months later in the seven-panel Intercontinental on a yielding surface here June 6 She took the field from gate-to-wire, sailing home to an effortless four-length success, good for a 103 Beyer Speed Figure.

 

Pedigree Notes:

Newspaperofrecord is one of five Group 1 winners resulting from crossing Lope de Vega (Ire) with daughters of Danehill and his sons. A daughter of the English Group 3 winner Sunday Times who also played the bridesmaid in the G1 Cheveley Park S., Newspaperofrecord was preceded by the listed heroine Classical Times (GB) (Lawman {Fr}). Her dam is a half-sister to the SP dam of G1 Irish Derby hero Latrobe (Ire) Camelot {GB}), runner-up in Australia’s G1 MacKinnon S., as well as Latrobe’s SW & dual Classic-placed full-sister Pink Dogwood (Ire) and G3 Gladness S. heroine Diamond Fields (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). This is the extended family of MGSW and two-time G1 Prix de la Foret second Majestic Times (Ire) (Bluebird). Sunday Times’s last reported foal is the winning 3-year-old Gleneagles (Ire) filly Daily Times (GB).

Saturday, Belmont Park
JUST A GAME S.-GI, $250,000, Belmont, 6-27, 4yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:35.62, fm.
1–NEWSPAPEROFRECORD (IRE), 120, f, 4, by Lope de Vega (Ire)
                1st Dam: Sunday Times (GB) (GSW & G1SP-Eng, $117,392),
                                 by Holy Roman Emperor (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Forever Times (GB), by So Factual
                3rd Dam: Simply Times, by Dodge
‘TDN Rising Star’. (200,000gns Ylg ’17 TATOCT). O-Klaravich
Stables, Inc.; B-Times of Wigan Ltd (IRE); T-Chad C. Brown;
J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $137,500. Lifetime Record: 8-5-2-0, $988,250.
*1/2 to Classical Times (GB) (Lawman (FR)), SW & GSP-Eng.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
   eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Beau Recall (Ire), 122, m, 6, by Sir Prancealot (Ire)
                1st Dam: Greta d’Argent (Ire), by Great Commotion
                2nd Dam: Petite-D-Argent (GB), by Noalto (GB)
                3rd Dam: Honey to Spare, by Track Spare (Ire)
(€17,000 Ylg ’15 TISEP; $385,000 RNA 5yo ’19 KEEJAN).
O-Slam Dunk Racing and Medallion Racing; B-Tom Wallace
(IRE); T-Brad H. Cox. $50,000.
3–Uni (GB), 124, m, 6, by More Than Ready
                1st Dam: Unaided (GB), by Dansili (GB)
                2nd Dam: Wosaita (GB), by Generous (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Eljazzi, by Artaius
(€40,000 Ylg ’15 ARAUG). O-M. Dubb, Head of Plains Partners
LLC, R. LaPenta & Bethlehem Stables LLC; B-Haras d’Etreham
(GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $30,000.
Margins: 3, HF, 1 1/4. Odds: 1.05, 10.40, 1.05.
Also Ran: Regal Glory, Zofelle (Ire), Valedictorian. Scratched: Got Stormy.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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