Barrister Tom comes into the Oct. 4 Dixiana Bourbon Stakes (G2T) as an underdog, even though he's the only stakes winner and the highweight in the field of 12 entered in the $200,000 stakes at Keeneland.
As a Breeders' Cup Challenge qualifier for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), the Bourbon stakes has attracted a salty field that includes three juveniles by last year's leading North American sire Into Mischief , who also was leading sire of 2-year-olds in 2019-18, and one by top international sire Galileo out of the grade 1 winner Acoma.
Still, owner/trainer Michael Ann Ewing believes Barrister Tom has every right to be in the mix at the end of the 1 1/16 mile test.
"He doesn't have a blue-blooded pedigree, and I'm not a big-time trainer, which is why he went off at 44-1 last out at Kentucky Downs," said Ewing, who became a licensed trainer in 2010 and owns Barrister Tom in the name of her Bantry Farms. "But this little horse has already outrun all my expectations, and I expect him to be in the mix if he improves the way I think he's been improving. He's gritty and professional, and I couldn't be happier with him."
Barrister Tom's only bad race was his debut July 8 at Indiana Grand Race Course, which was a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight on the dirt, and he finished next to last. On the grass is where the gelding really wanted to be as the son of 2005 NetJet Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) winner Artie Schiller and out of mare who did her best running in allowance company on the turf.
Racing longer and on the grass at Arlington International Racecourse Aug. 7 produced dramatic results. Barrister Tom won by four lengths and showed he deserved a shot in the $500,000 More Than Ready Juvenile Stakes at Kentucky Downs.
"The time was slow at Arlington, but he had shown a lot more than it looked," Ewing said. "He didn't give in when he was pressured and went on to win by several lengths. This horse just appears to do whatever you ask him to do."
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Barrister Tom won by half a length at Kentucky Downs and earned an 80 Equibase Speed Figure. That stakes win requires him to carry 120 pounds in the Bourbon, two more than the rest of the field. But the gelding also will be carrying Florent Geroux, who is the seventh-leading rider in the country by earnings through Sept. 30.
"I didn't feel any pressure to run here because he's already paid his way to the Breeders' Cup, but he looks strong and is eating well. He feels so good, he needs to run," said Ewing. "Even if he just does well, the Breeders' Cup is very much on the radar. I don't get these shots very often, and he deserves it."
The three colts by Into Mischief entered in the Bourbon are all examples of why their sire currently sits atop both the general leading sires and juvenile lists.
Trainer Wesley Ward will saddle Into the Sunrise, who won in his second start by 3 3/4 lengths and comes into the race off a second in the Soaring Free Stakes Woodbine a neck behind Gretzky the Great , who went on to win the Summer Stakes (G1T).
Moving from turf to dirt is Shadwell Stable's Mutasaabeq, who debuted as a flashy winner at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 8 before running a distant third there in the Sept. 7 Runhappy Hopeful Stakes (G1) behind for Jackie's Warrior and Reinvestment Risk.
"I worked him on the turf a couple of times after the Hopeful. It seems like he has handled it well," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "Into Mischiefs seem to run on anything and he's out of a Scat Daddy mare that had some turf form."
That mare, Downside Scenario, won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden grass race at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in January 2016.
Luis Saez rides.
Donegal Racing and Newtown Anner Stud have entered Abarta who comes into the race off his debut win at Bourbon distance on the grass at Ellis Park. Trainer by Brad Cox, the colt's dam Dame Marie was runner-up in the 2014 Churchill Downs Turf Mile Stakes (G2T). Abarta will be ridden by Umberto Rispoli.
L and N Racing's Irish-bred Hidden Enemy owns one of the fanciest pedigrees in the field, being a son of Galileo and out of Acoma. The colt, bred by Alexander/Grove Thoroughbreds, has raced only at 1 1/16 miles. He finished fourth in his debut at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 8 and was second in his most recent start at Saratoga Sept. 5. Hidden Enemy is trained by Steve Asmussen and will be ridden by Joel Rosario.
Keeneland, Sunday, October 4, 2020, Race 8Entries: Bourbon S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Indy Tourist (KY) Tyler Gaffalione 118 Michael J. Maker 8/1 2 2Hidden Enemy (IRE) Joel Rosario 118 Steven M. Asmussen 8/1 3 3Really Slow (KY) Jack Gilligan 118 Paul McEntee 50/1 4 4Into the Sunrise (KY) Rafael Bejarano 118 Wesley A. Ward 7/2 5 5Private Island (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 118 Ian R. Wilkes 12/1 6 6Abarta (KY) Umberto Rispoli 118 Brad H. Cox 12/1 7 7Blame the Booze (KY) Gerardo Corrales 118 Wesley A. Ward 8/1 8 8Arrest Me Red (KY) James Graham 118 Arnaud Delacour 20/1 9 9Nathan Detroit (KY) Julien R. Leparoux 118 J. Reeve McGaughey 10/1 10 10Mutasaabeq (KY) Luis Saez 118 Todd A. Pletcher 3/1 11 11Barrister Tom (KY) Florent Geroux 120 Michael Ann Ewing 6/1 12 12Spyglass (KY) Ricardo Santana, Jr. 118 Steven M. Asmussen 12/1
