Tom's Ready runs by Runhappy in the Ack Ack
In his first start in just over nine months, the Grade 3 Ack Ack Handicap was supposed to be all about Runhappy. Tom’s Ready had other ideas, though. Owned by the New Orleans Saints’ owner Tom Benson, the only three-year-old in the field rallied on by the faltering favorite early in the lane, and had plenty left in the tank to hold off the fast finishing Iron Fist to win by a determined half-length. In the process, he stamped himself a major threat for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in five weeks.
Sent off as the overwhelming choice at 3-10, Runhappy quickly moved to the lead from the outside under Edgar Prado. But soon after that, another returning colt, Mr. Z took the lead away from the 2015 Sprint Champion on the rail. Meanwhile, Tom’s Ready, making his first start since a disappointing trip and result in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop, found himself a nice relaxed position back in fifth. Off the pace was not a bad place to be on a Churchill Downs main track recently changed to fast, but still drying out from several days of rain in the Louisville area.
Mr. Z and Runhappy continued down the Churchill Downs backstretch through solid fractions of :23.08 and :45.95, with Schivarelli and Iron Fist not far behind. The champion made his move heading into the far turn and reclaimed the lead from the longshot, Mr. Z. As that one threw in the towel, Runhappy never was afforded a breather, as Schivarelli soon ranged right up to him before the field had hit the stretch. By this time, Tom’s Ready, under Brian Hernandez, Jr. was picking them up and laying them down on the outside.
Runhappy had no spurt at the top of the stretch, and it quickly became clear that the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner of last year was not going to return a winner. Trained by Dallas Stewart, Tom’s Ready was more than ready to take advantage. The son of More Than Ready surged past the leaders and set sail for the wire. Iron Fist, who had come off the rail, made it just a little interesting the final eighth, but he never looked like he was going to get to the winner. Schivarelli finished another length back in third, and one length in front of Runhappy.
“We thought that if we could beat Runhappy, today was the day and our horse ran his race,” Hernandez said. “They didn’t go all that fast up front and he ran after them and ran them down his own way and proved to be the best horse today. I was pretty confident the whole way. I was sitting back behind them and I know they didn’t feel like they weren’t going all that fast but knowing my little horse and watching him run in the race he did at Belmont, I thought when I called on him that he would be able to give me that kind of run and he did.”
The final time for the one-turn mile over the Churchill Downs main strip was an excellent 1:34.86 on a track that was not playing overly fast during the afternoon.
With the victory, Tom’s Ready raised his record to 13-3-4-0, with earnings of $640,267. This was his second graded stakes win in his last three starts, having scored an impressive victory in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens back on Belmont Stakes Day. Second before that in the Louisiana Derby, the GMB Racing charge finished 12th on this track in the Kentucky Derby. Today’s win validated his class in long sprints or middle distance races.
As the 9-2 second choice, Tom’s Ready returned $11.80, $5.20, $6.40. That show payoff was caused by the fourth-place finish of the big favorite. The exacta over the third choice, Iron First, was good for $45.00, while the trifecta without Runhappy, paid off for $235.80.
As for the beaten favorite, this result was not as bad as it may look on first glance. Beaten only 2 1/2 lengths, he likely needed the race after the layoff, and today found a track that was less than friendly to his style. Look for an improved effort next time around.