Barn Tour: Amoss updates on stakes horses, debut winners

Tom Amoss is coming off a year when he had more than $5 million in earnings, the fourth time that’s happened since he started training in the late ‘80s and the first time since 2019.

Contributing to that success were his three graded-stakes winners, Hoosier Philly, Sixtythreecaliber and Curly Jack. None of them has won a graded stakes this year, but two will give it a shot this weekend. The third has just come off a freshening and will return in the fall.

Amoss provided an update on these three and other top talent in his stable for the latest in Horse Racing Nation’s Barn Tour series.

Hoosier Philly. The 3-year-old Into Mischief filly generated plenty of buzz by going 3-for-3 last year, but she was 0-for-4 this year until a gate-to-wire win by 3 1/2 lengths over odds-on favorite Wet Paint in the Monomoy Girl on June 17. Amoss said he would enter her in Friday’s Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks. “We're looking forward to getting her back on track,” Amoss said. “She missed a little bit of time due to a bruised foot, but that's behind her. We've had a couple of really good workouts in her, and we're ready to go.” Those included a bullet four furlongs in 46.8 seconds two works back.

Sixtythreecaliber. The 4-year-old Gun Runner filly was 0-for-4 this year before winning an optional-claiming allowance race at Saratoga on July 19. She is entered in Friday’s Personal Ensign (G1). “This is this is one of those, step up to the plate and try to swing for the fences. We completely respect, if not revere, Nest and Clairiere as well as the other entrants in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign, but she's earned a chance. She has earned a chance to run a race like this. … Look, we're here. The race is in our backyard. And if there's one thing I can say on behalf of Sixty-three Caliber, or maybe two things, number one, she has really blossomed up here at Saratoga, put on weight, put on color. But secondly, she's such an overachiever. She wants to win. And hopefully those come into play.”

Curly Jack. The 3-year-old son of Good Magic won last year’s Iroquois (G3) but was winless in four starts this year, three of which wer graded stakes. He hasn’t raced since finishing 11th in the Texas Derby on May 29. “He's back on the track. He's had an initial breeze. I think we'll have him ready sometime in late September or early October.” In his first work since May, Curly Jack breezed three furlongs in 37.4 seconds Sunday at Churchill Downs.

Girl Named Charlie. The 3-year-old daughter of Maclean's Music won her first two starts of the year and then went 0-for-4, including a sixth-place finish on Aug. 13 in the black-type Searching Stakes at Laurel Park. “She's a difficult horse in the sense that she needs to be relaxed and rated in her races, and if you do not get her covered up, you're going to have a problem. And that's what happened in Laurel in the stake. She had an outside post, she broke aggressively, we were unable to get her covered up behind horses. And it worked against her for sure.”

Alys Beach. This 2-year-old Omaha Beach filly broke her maiden on debut on July 30 at Saratoga. “She's doing great and again, this may be one where we have a horse that's definitely earned a chance. Right now, we're pointing to the Spinaway.” The Grade 1 race is at Saratoga on Sept. 3.

Pass the Hat. The 2-year-old son of Collected broke his maiden July 21 in his second start at Ellis Park. “Very good looking and a good looking win for a colt we really like. He needs a little bit of freshening. He has a little minor issue, which he'll recover from, and will be back late fall probably.”

Need Some Money. This 3-year-old Street Sense filly is “maybe the horse that has the best chance to improve,” Amoss said. She won a starter allowance at Saratoga last Wednesday after seven losses. “I've always liked her. And I think there's some quirks about her in her running style. I think we've solved those. I wouldn't be surprised to see her come off that win and continue to improve.” Look for her next in a Saratoga allowance.