Trainer Profile: Tom Amoss

Tom Amoss

Tom Amoss

Tom Amoss has been training horses since 1987 and has banked nearly $87 million in purses, winning over 3,200 races in about 12,600 tries.

An LSU grad, he started his career in Louisiana and has had his most success on that circuit. Mo Tom will be the fifth horse he will have saddled for the Kentucky Derby.

His first Derby charge was Lone Star Sky (2003), who finished 15th in the race won by Funny Cide. Since then, he has sent Backtalk (20th, 2010), Mylute (5th, 2013), and War Story (16th, 2015) to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

Despite having won 25 major stakes races, Amoss’ best finish in a Triple Crown came in 2013, when Mylute finished third. Amoss trained Ron the Greek as a two- and three-year-old, but the horse never made it to the Derby after back-to-back sixth place finishes in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby in 2010.

In 2014, Amoss had his best year as a trainer in terms of wins, finishing in the top-10 in North America (ninth with 198 victories).

He started Mo Tom’s career on Sept. 5 of last year in a maiden special weight race at Ellis Park, in which the heavily-favored colt won by a neck.

The son of Uncle Mo sneaks into the Derby after the defection of Cupid — thanks to the points he earned in winning the Grade III LeComte at Fair Grounds in his first 2016 start. Mo Tom went on to finish a troubled third in the Risen Star and also experienced trouble in the Louisiana Derby, in which he finished fourth (both contests were won by Gun Runner).

Amoss would love to add a Kentucky Derby win to his impressive resume.

Click HERE for current odds to win the 2016 Kentucky Derby.

Ryan Dickey
Ryan Dickey is a full-time firefighter in Dearborn, MI, and a life-long horse racing fan. He is a handicapper and contributor to prominent horse racing Websites as well as a freelance sportswriter/photojournalist. He covers local high school sports and community events for multiple outlets, including bi-weekly newspapers and has over 200 works published to date.

Once again the owner of a race horse, Ryan is president (and currently sole member!) of Firehouse Racing Stables, LLC. This year @FirehouseRacing plans to send its first thoroughbred, That Is So Right (a 4 year old chestnut gelding), to run at tracks in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia and, possibly, Indiana.

Having lived in Las Vegas for six years and working in the sports gaming industry, Ryan knows sports handicapping from “both sides of the counter.” Feel free to contact him on Twitter (@rdickey249) for questions, comments, criticisms, or critiques.

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