Tom's Ready (More Than Ready), runner-up to fellow GMB Racing colorbearer Mo Tom (Uncle Mo) in the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 16, drilled five furlongs Saturday morning in 1:00 flat in advance of a start in the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds Feb. 20.
“It was very good,” trainer Dallas Stewart said. “He was a little sharp early, but he finished strong and galloped out pretty good. He came off the track bouncing and I think we're where we need to be.”
A second-out maiden winner at Churchill last September, Tom's Ready was runner-up to Mo Tom in that track's Street Sense S. Nov. 1 before failing to handle a sloppy main track when a well-beaten eighth behind Airoforce (Colonel John) in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Nov. 28. A near-miss second in a Dec. 18 allowance test in New Orleans, Tom's Ready led into the final furlong of the Lecomte, only to be outfinished by Mo Tom.
“He'll work again–another five-eighths–next Saturday or Sunday,” said Stewart, who indicated that John Velazquez had accepted the riding assignment. “We know he's a nice horse. He needs to train like he's that type of horse. The game is stepping up and he has to step up with it.”
Mo Tom, trained for the Bensons by Tom Amoss, went five-eighths of a mile in 1:01 Saturday morning. He is also slated to make his next appearance in the Risen Star.
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