Sent off as the race favorite in his career debut, Tip Top Thomas ran to his name to score a determined victory in a $100,000 maiden special weight at Saratoga on Saturday, Aug. 24. The well-meant career debut made Tip Top Thomas the first TDN Rising Star and eighth overall winner for his freshman sire Volatile.
Owned by James Bakke and trained by Todd Pletcher, Tip Top Thomas stalked the early pace set by Rookie Card. Tip Top Thomas swung four wide in the upper stretch and rallied strongly when set down for the drive. He took a narrow lead at the three-sixteenths pole and dug in late to fend off Rookie Card at the wire to score by a head. The chestnut colt stopped the clock in 1:10.46.
Bred in Kentucky by Wynnstay Inc., Donna Moore, and Jim Richardson, Tip Top Thomas was a $160,000 acquisition out of last year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Sale. He tipped his hand for Pletcher ahead of his debut, sporting a pair of bullet half-mile drills ahead of his bow. Produced from the winning Consolidator mare Attempt to Name, Tip Top Thomas is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner Gray Attempt and to multiple graded stakes-placed Dua.
Volatile, a son of Violence, moves into the No. 5 spot on the First-Crop Sire list with the win by Tip Top Thomas. Volatile stood the 2024 breeding season for $15,000 S&N.
