It was just about feeding time the other morning at Al Stall Jr.'s barn at Churchill Downs and there was Tom's d'Etat, in a familiar spot, peering out of his stall, eagerly awaiting brunch. It was the morning after his final work, six days before what will be the final start of his elongated and often-interrupted career, in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at Keeneland, and the 7-year-old war horse was seemingly as eager as ever to get it on.
"He's still bright, front of his stall, ears forward, not back in his corner," Stall said. "If he'd ever given us any sign he'd had enough, we'd absolutely pull the plug."
For six years now, Stall and his team have made every right move with Tom's d'Etat, whose career could have ended long ago, and with far less success, had it not been for the proactive way in which he's been managed. Injuries at 2, 3, and 4 limited him to seven starts before November of his 5-year-old year, but each time his issues were caught early and properly addressed. Since his return to action two years ago — on the day after the 2018 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs — Tom's d'Etat has developed into one of the best older horses in the country, with multiple graded stakes victories, highlighted by the Grade 1 Clark last November and Grade 2 Stephen Foster this year.
"It makes you feel good that you know you did the right thing for the horse, makes you feel good about what you do on a day-to-day basis," Stall said. "Since he came back, he's been straightforward, nothing has reared its ugly head, and he's been able to show what we thought he was all along."
Tom's d'Etat — a bay horse with a crescent-shaped star between his eyes — was purchased as a yearling for $330,000 by Stall for the G M B Racing stable of Gayle Benson, who that year gave Stall and fellow trainers Tom Amoss and Dallas Stewart a budget to buy yearlings on her behalf. Tom's d'Etat, by Smart Strike, was short-listed for Stall by Frank and Daphne Wooten and was broken at the Wootens's training facility in Camden, S.C. A big, strong horse who now weighs around 1,200 pounds, he was bought with the classics in mind.
"We knew as a yearling he'd need time," Stall said. "But he trained well as a 2-year-old and was up to a half-mile work when he came up with a flake in his left front ankle."
Tom's d'Etat made his debut in May 2016 and raced three times at 3, winning once, before he was sidelined for a second time, this time with bone bruising.
He raced four times at age 4, highlighted by a powerful third-level allowance victory at Saratoga in July 2017, but the morning after a subsequent workout he was off in his right front leg, and radiographs revealed the beginning of a fracture in that cannon bone.
"We put two screws in there. They're still in there. He'll take them with him," Stall said.
Tom's d'Etat would not race again for 15 months. Stall wanted to ease him back in an allowance race, but there were limited opportunities with his conditions. Stall finally found a spot, in a grass race that came off the turf in which he was entered for main track-only, the day after the 2018 Breeders' Cup. He won easily, against just two opponents.
After being limited to seven starts at 3 and 4, Tom's d'Etat has raced 12 times since returning, winning seven. Beginning with the Grade 2 Fayette last fall at Keeneland, Tom's d'Etat had won four straight prior to his last start, the Grade 1 Whitney, in which he stumbled badly leaving the gate as the even-money favorite and wound up third behind Improbable and By My Standards, who he will meet again in the Classic.
The Classic will be his 20th and final start. Tom's d'Etat heads to WinStar afterward, to begin stallion duty.
Stall will be trying to win the Classic for the second time, 10 years after he sent out Blame, that year's champion older dirt male, to defeat the previously unbeaten Zenyatta at Churchill Downs. For a trainer who carries around 40 horses, it's no small feat to get to this position. Had Tom's d'Etat been in a barn with more horses, where replacements are at the ready, perhaps he wouldn't have been given the time needed to be able to keep racing until age 7. It's been an ideal marriage.
"He's like a family member," Stall said. "Knowing what we had seen of him, I'm grateful he's been able to show it on the racetrack last year and this."
