Mo Tom Looks Toward Kentucky after LeComte Score

Mo Tom Looks Toward Kentucky after LeComte Score: The Road to the Kentucky Derby recently passed through the Fair Grounds to hand out another set of 10-4-2-1 points to potential Derby contenders. The top horse, Mo Tom, finished well and looks like a potential horse to challenge on Derby Day.

The LeComte Stakes has had a few stars pass through. However, the race has yet to produce a Kentucky Derby winner. There have been top horses such as Ron the Greek, Hard Spun, and Oxbow take the race, but the best finish of these three came in the form of a second-place result in 2007 for Hard Spun.

This year, Mo Tom exited the LeComte Stakes with 10 more points toward the Kentucky Derby, giving the colt 12 points total and leaving him at #7 on the leaderboard. The colt is likely going to train and remain at the Fair Grounds, following that path through the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby. The colt is trained by Tom Amoss, a veteran to the horse racing world at this point. He even trained Ron the Greek in his 2010 LeComte win. He also trained Mylute to a third-place finish in the 2013 Preakness Stakes behind Oxbow.

“I’m sure Corey (Lanerie) would agree, when the distance gets further, the better our horse is going to get, so we’re really excited about that,” Amoss said. “I have to say Gayle Benson has been great, she’s a great owner and she gets a big assist from her partner Tom Benson. We’re really pleased, they’re both New Orleans natives; we’re really happy.”

Mo Tom is aptly named after his sire, Uncle Mo, who was the leading first-crop sire of 2015 and looks to keep things going in 2016. Uncle Mo won at distances of six furlongs to 1-1/16 miles. He won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to cap off an undefeated two-year-old season. After being the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, he was scratched due to a stomach illness. He came back to win the Kelso Handicap and Timely Writer Stakes. As a stallion, Uncle Mo is represented by horses like Uncle Vinny, Gomo, and Nyquist, who was just named 2015 Champion 2-Year-Old Male. Uncle Mo is the only United States stallion to ever have two-year-old earnings of over $3 million in one crop.

Mo Tom is out of a mare by Rubiano, an excellent sprinter. Winner of the NYRA Mile, Carter Handicap, and Vosburgh Stakes, all Grade I races, Rubiano was the sire of multiple fast horses, including Too Much Bling and Burning Roma. His offspring are best between 7 and 9 furlongs.

Rubiano carried on the Fappiano sire line and also the Nijinsky II sire line through his broodmare sire. Rubiano is the broodmare sire of Tapit, the leading stallion in the U.S.

Mo Tom is looking to continue down the road towards Kentucky. Trainer Tom Amoss clearly believes this colt can outrun his speedy pedigree and continue to improve as the distances get longer. The LeComte proved the colt could easily handle 1 mile and 70 yards. The colt broke his maiden sprinting and won his first stakes race, the Street Sense Stakes, at Churchill Downs over one mile on the Louisville oval. The colt has never finished worse than third in five starts. So far, the $150,000 yearling purchase is living up to expectations.

Related Links:
Mo Tom Earns Ten Kentucky Derby Points With Lecomte Win