Coady Photography
LeComte Stakes (gr. III) winner Mo Tom, training for a start in the May 7th Kentucky Derby (gr. I), is known as a late-running colt without much early speed. But in a four-furlong workout on April 20th at Churchill Downs, Mo Tom showed an abundance of early speed, breezing four furlongs in a rapid :47 seconds.
The son of Uncle Mo started off with fast fractions of :11.60, :23 flat, and :34.80, but despite his early speed, he stayed on strongly after the finish line, going five furlongs in :59.80, six furlongs in 1:12.40, seven furlongs in 1:26.40, and a mile in 1:42 flat. It was Mo Tom’s second workout at Churchill Downs and followed a similar workout on April 13th, when he went four furlongs in :48 flat and galloped out seven furlongs in 1:27.40 (click here to read more details.)
Regarding today’s workout, trainer Tom Amoss noted that Mo Tom started a bit quicker than usual.
“It went well,” Amoss was quoted as saying in a Churchill Downs press release. “We went a little quick early in the work but he came back to the rider nicely and coming to the wire he was full force.
“He did like he always does, galloped out very strongly, which is his ammo. With that in mind when we work back next week, which will be our last work, we’ll push back from the Derby pretty good because the work is going to be significant even though we’re out to do a little less than we have the past two weeks.”
According to the press release, Mo Tom is scheduled to breeze again on either April 27th or April 28th, depending on the weather.
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to sign up for email newsletters and special offers from The Turf Board!
