Grade 1 Winner Tom’s d’Etat To Stand At WinStar Farm Upon Retirement

WinStar Farm has reached an agreement with Gayle Benson's GMB Racing to acquire the breeding rights to Grade 1-winning millionaire and leading Breeders' Cup Classic contender Tom's d'Etat.

“When my late husband, Tom, decided in 2014 that we were going to enter the horse racing business, the first place we came to was WinStar Farm to see their operation,” said Gayle Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. “GMB Racing is extremely excited that our best horse, Tom's d'Etat, will begin his stud career with Kenny Troutt and his entire team at WinStar. We look forward to watching the second half of his career be just as successful as his first, and we know he will get that opportunity at WinStar. I am also eager to bring many of our mares from Benson Farm to breed to him in the coming years.”

By sire of sires Smart Strike, Tom's d'Etat won the 2019 Grade 1 Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs and is undefeated in two starts in 2020, both stakes. He registered a brilliant 4 1/4-length victory in the $500,000 G2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs June 27, earning a career-best 109 Beyer Speed Figure, and kicked off his seasonal campaign in April with an impressive late-charging win over Grade 1 winner and subsequent G1 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Improbable in the Oaklawn Mile Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Trained by Al Stall, Tom's d'Etat is a strapping bay who has emerged as one of the leading horses in training. Tom's d'Etat has compiled 11 wins, six of them in stakes, from 18 trips to the post, banking $1,627,272, and is on a four-win streak with his sights set on the G1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga for his next target.

“I have been honored to be able to train two great horses in Blame and Tom's d'Etat,” said Al Stall. “He has been brilliant winning four in a row, and I can't wait to lead him back over there in the Whitney.”

In winning last month's Stephen Foster in dominant fashion over multiple graded stakes winner By My Standards, Tom's d'Etat covered 1 1/8 miles in an eye-catching 1:47.30, geared down in the late stages. The final time came within a whisker of Victory Gallop's track and stakes record of 1:47.28 set in the 1999 renewal of the Stephen Foster. In winning his fourth consecutive stakes race in the Stephen Foster, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic, Tom's d'Etat secured a berth in this year's $7-million Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland Nov. 7.

Tom's d'Etat scored his biggest victory to date last year, winning the $600,000 Clark Stakes as much the best by 3 1/4 lengths. Before taking down the Clark and running a 104 Beyer in the impressive performance, Tom's d'Etat ran a 105 Beyer in winning the G2 Fayette Stakes at Keeneland by a widening 4 1/4 lengths, and he also scored in the 2019 Alydar Stakes at Saratoga, recording a 104 Beyer. All told, he has recorded nine triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, eight of them consecutively, in his illustrious career.

“Tom's d'Etat has proven over the last two years to be of the highest quality,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. “Eleven of his last 12 Thoro-Graph figures are negative numbers. He has nine triple-digit Beyers and eight in a row. He was .02 off the track record in his last start at historic Churchill Downs, and he won two of the best races in the country at 1 1/8 miles in the Stephen Foster and the Clark.

“Any way you slice it, he is top class,” Walden added. “He is the last great son of Smart Strike from the family of Candy Ride. We walked Speightstown into the stallion barn at age seven and Distorted Humor at age six. Hopefully, he will be another story we can tell how he defied the odds like them.”

Bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock, Tom's d'Etat was purchased by GMB Racing for $330,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September sale from the Hunter Valley Farm consignment. He is produced from the stakes-winning and multiple stakes-placed Giant's Causeway mare Julia Tuttle who is out of Candy Cane (ARG), a full sister to G1 Pacific Classic winner and leading sire Candy Ride (ARG).

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Not This Time Filly Fastest At OBS July Under Tack Show’s Fourth Session

Hip No. 640, a daughter of Not This Time consigned by de Meric Sales, Agent, breezed an eighth in : 9 4/5, posting the fastest work at the distance at the fourth session of the under tack show for Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2020 July Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age.

The chestnut filly is out of Exotic Design, by A.P. Indy, a daughter of Grade 1 winner Exotic Wood and a full-sister to stakes winner Key to Power.

Hip No. 639, a son of Ghostzapper consigned by Randy Bradshaw, Agent, turned in the session's fastest quarter, stopping the timer in :21 1/5. The bay colt is out of Excellent News, by Rahy, a half-sister to graded stakes winner Here's to You.

Hip No. 572, a daughter of Social Inclusion consigned by Blue River Bloodstock, Inc., Agent, breezed the session's fastest three-eighths, clocked in :33 1/5. The bay filly, a half sister to stakes placed For Emma, is out of stakes placed Dandy Dulce, by Dixieland Heat.

Hip No. 699, Papa Twosexyeight, a son of Anthony's Cross consigned by 30-30 Ranch, worked a half-mile in a brisk :46 3/5. The bay colt is out of Gerry's Reward, by Grand Reward, from the family of graded stakes winner Just Rushing.

Six youngsters worked quarters in :21 2/5.

  • Hip No. 542, Inside Scheme, a bay filly by Dialed In consigned by Coastal Equine LLC (Jesse Hoppel), Agent, is out of Collusion, by Broad Brush, a daughter of champion Inside Information and half-sister to champion Smuggler.
  • Hip No. 560, consigned by All in Line Stables, Agent, is a gray or roan filly by Summer Front out of stakes-placed Cozy Gain, by Cozzene, a daughter of graded stakes winner Broad Gains.
  • Hip No. 579, a dark bay or brown filly by Cairo Prince consigned by Off the Hook LLC, Agent, is out of Grade 1-placed Dear Bela (ARG), by Indygo Shiner, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Mister Tin.
  • Hip No. 695, a bay filly by Shackleford consigned by Nice and Easy Thoroughbreds, is out of Gateway to Gold, by Arch, a half sister to stakes winner Heart Butte.
  • Hip No. 701, Casper, a bay colt by Ghostzapper consigned by Arindel, is a full-brother to graded stakes winner Shaman Ghost out of stakes placed Getback Time, by Gilded Time.
  • Hip No. 712, consigned by Fabian Sales, is a chestnut filly by Secret Circle out of Golden Lady, by Medaglia d'Oro, a daughter of stakes winner Street Sass.

There were three eighths in :10 flat.

  • Hip No. 607, consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent, is a dark bay or brown colt by Shackleford out of Donnatale, by Tale of the Cat, a half sister to graded stakes-placed stakes winner Heavenly Score.
  • Hip No. 648, a chestnut colt by Nyquist consigned by Q Bar J Thoroughbreds LLC, is out of stakes-placed Fancy and Flashy, by Zensational.
  • Hip No. 680, a chestnut colt by Dialed In consigned by G. A. Thoroughbred Sales, Agent, is out of stakes-placed Freedom Ridge, by Quaker Ridge.

The under tack show continues Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. with Hip No.'s 721 – 900 scheduled to breeze.

To view the full results from Thursday's under tack show, click here.

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Stobie & CTA Continue Heroic Acts for Horses Every Day

Based in Puerto Rico, the mission of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare Inc. (CTA), is rehabilitation, retraining, retirement, and adoption for Thoroughbreds in the Caribbean. The organization recently posted on its Facebook page images of the three Thoroughbreds they most recently accepted from Hippodrome Camarero, the Thoroughbred track in Puerto Rico. All three, Salary Cap (Street Boss), Too Fast For Love (Harlington), or Keep Me Grounded (First Samurai) will need rehabilitation and have only a chance at being sound for trail or light riding. Since December, CTA has been looking for a home for Afleet Accompli (Afleet Alex) who ran 63 times and earned close to $200,000. Like Too Fast For Love and Keep Me Gounded, who ran 45 and 42 times, respectively, are what CTA Executive Director Kelley Stobie calls ‘war horses’.

Afleet Accompli was brought to the attention of CTA by a race fan on the mainland who tries to keep track of all of Afleet Alex’s offspring. Before COVID-19, there was a chance that Afleet Accompli would be going to Old Friends, however, that opportunity is now in question. A lifetime sanctuary for the hundreds of imported Thoroughbreds that must retire every year from Camarero does not currently exist on Puerto Rico, or on the mainland.

“80% of the horses that we are asked to take are imports,” said Stobie. “And it is rare that we get an imported horse that is sound for athletic or competitive riding careers. It breaks my heart. These are war horses and they are worn out. There are very limited homes here for a happy pasture sound or trail-riding horse.”

CTA is accredited by the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) and receives an annual grant from the organization. Stobie has also worked out a small institutionalized funding program with the racetrack and the local breeders. But keeping horses in Puerto Rico is more difficult and more expensive than what it is on the mainland and the cost of shipping a horse back to the mainland including quarantine, flight and paperwork is $3,294 per horse. So, Stobie and CTA are often faced with the reality of having to euthanize pasture sound horses.

CTA often makes happy headlines when, with the help of sponsors, they are able to ship high-profile “war horses’ back to the U.S. and find placement for them. One such horse was Immortal Wink (Gimmeawink), who raced 142 times before retiring four years ago at age 10 and now resides in Florida at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation facility at the Lowell Correctional Facility farm for women. Currently, the breeders of Keep Me Grounded are working on getting him back to Kentucky to retire into a similar program.

“It is great when the breeders or former owners step up and help us to get a horse back to the mainland for retirement,” said Stobie. “For some horses, the trip back and quarantine are hard. That is why we feel a sanctuary on Puerto Rico as well as a program and funding to return more horses are necessary. Horses continue to be imported, but there is no plan for a return ticket for their retirement.”

The unregulated transport of racehorses to Puerto Rico has recently been in the news. The Horse Racing Confederation of Puerto Rico is involved in litigation over the death of nine horses who died in 2019 when being shipped by boat from Jacksonville, Florida to San Juan.

On Jan. 25, 2018, Stobie and co-founder Shelley Blodgett were awarded a special Eclipse award recognizing their heroism, bravery, and benevolence in the face of tragedy for their Hurricane Maria efforts. One might be hard-pressed to find two more competent, savvy and hard-working people in the Thoroughbred rescue world.

In their work, every day takes heroism. Every day they face the pressure of more horses coming their way than they have the room or the funds to care for as well as the added pressure of having to raise funds to ship horses back to the mainland.

“It costs us upward of $50,000 a year to ship the horses who can withstand the journey and additional quarantine time to adoptive homes and other accredited agencies on the mainland that have room,” said Stobie. “As the news of the storms slowed down, so did our donations. But horses continue to be imported to Puerto Rico to race and then they are forgotten. We are on a mission to make sure that a plan gets put in place so that all Thoroughbreds in Puerto Rico receive the retirement that they deserve.”

It is hurricane season again and CTA has taken steps to weather any bad storms.

“We are able to take our horses to a friend’s farm that is on high ground and we have a new container to store hay and feed,” said Stobie. “We also work closely with Dr. Ricardo Loinaz at the racetrack clinic and we can rely on him for help with veterinary care and supplies. We are all better prepared than we were in years past.”

To learn more about Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare, go to https://www.ctahorse.com/

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