Saturday was a big day for trainer Jonathan Thomas.

He picked up his first graded-stakes win of the year with Truly Quality in the Grade 3 Singspiel at Woodbine, and he got his second three races later with Mouffy in the Dance Smartly (G2).

It doesn’t quite compare with last year, when Thomas won four graded stakes, including two at Kentucky Downs with $1 million purses. He ended up just shy of $4 million in earnings last year, by far the best results of his career. This year, he’s just about to top $2 million.

“It’s a different complexion this year,” Thomas told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday. “We’re down on numbers. We’re kind of getting south of 30 heads, kind of between 25 and 30 horses, and a little leaner in regards to quality.”

So it was “gratifying” to get those wins on Saturday, Thomas said. “What we ran this weekend was definitely the better horses in our barn at the moment. So I was really happy that they were able to win graded stakes. They acted like they had that sort of quality. So it was nice to see them get it done.”

Thomas, who was at Turfway on Saturday and who recently bought a home in Georgetown, Ky., updated on his stakes winners and other horses in his stable for HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Mouffy. The 5-year-old Uncle Mo mare has a 6: 2-2-0 record this year, also picking up a win in the listed Perfect Sting during the Belmont at the Big A meet in July. “We were very, very pleased and proud of her this weekend in the Dance Smartly. She’s a filly that’s hinted at having graded-stake ability. Thought she ran very, very well out in California this winter (finishing second in the Megahertz (G3) and Buena Vista (G2)). And beautiful pedigree, Uncle Mo, Smart Strike mare (Truly Together). She’s a lovely physical. From a talent perspective, it was great to see her get a graded-stakes win, and then obviously, down the line with broodmare ramifications, it was a good thing to add to her resume.” He doesn’t know what’s next, but he might “take a real flyer” in the Matriarch (G1) on Dec. 1 at Del Mar. “Let some of these fillies sort it out at the Breeders’ Cup and maybe go that route. Without really circling it, that seems to make the most sense to try to get to.”

Truly Quality. The 4-year-old gelding by Quality Road is a half-sibling to Mouffy and has compiled a 7: 3-2-2 record this year. He has finished out of the money only once in 12 career starts. “He’s a really neat horse. I got to spend some time around Quality Road when I worked for Todd (Pletcher). He was one of my favorite horses I’ve ever worked with. And it’s fun to have a good son of his, because I really loved that horse and loved being around him. This horse obviously isn’t a blazing-fast dirt horse, but he’s got a lot of grit and he’s extremely reliable like his father. And he’s just getting better and better and better, and he’s doing it in the right way. I love it when horses incrementally get better, not kind of go from running crazy numbers in the span of a race. He’s just slowly climbing that ladder. And so he’s an exciting horse for us, and I think he’s only going to continue to get better physically. So he’ll be an interesting horse for next year. I hope we can develop him into a Grade 1 type of horse next year.” Thomas isn’t sure whether he’ll run again this year. ”Those marathon races are in short supply.”

Twirling Point. The 3-year-old Twirling Candy gelding has a record of 4:2-0-1 this year, with a win two back in the Jersey Derby and another in an optional-claiming allowance at Santa Anita in February. “He’s been a real overachiever for us. Thought he was a kind of a nice 2-year-old last year, and he started to put things together over the winter at San Anita. I liked his win in the Jersey Derby. And he’s run into some monsters. I mean, he almost beat Trikari after a bad break in the (Rushaway at Turfway). And he finished in front of Formidable Man out at Santa Anita, and that horse has come to show himself as the best 3-year-old turf horse on the West Coast. So he’s held his own with the best in the east, the best in the west. I think he kind of felt his campaign a little bit this summer. He lost a little bit of weight, so we’ve kind of backed off on him.” Options for his next start include the Ontario Derby (G3), the Twilight Derby at Santa Anita (G2) and the Bryan Station (G3) at Keeneland. “He looks like a horse that’s going to continue to get better. And hopefully we can develop him into a nice horse next year.”

Faith Understood. This 3-year-old filly is by Catholic Boy, Thomas’s top earner. She broke her maiden in April on her second try then was second in a listed stakes at Aqueduct and third last out in the Honeymoon (G3) at Santa Anita in June. “Faith Understood had a small setback. She’s going to run the latter part of this year and into next year. That filly has some talent. She was impressive at Keeneland, breaking her maiden. Thought she finished a very good second to a good filly of Chad’s (Sweet Rebecca, trained by Chad Brown) in New York and then had a kind of a problematic trip at Santa Anita in the Honeymoon, finishing third. I thought she could have finished closer. She’s got some talent, that filly. I like her quite a bit.”

Mrs. Astor. The 4-year-old daughter of Lookin At Lucky is 5: 1-2-1 this year, picking up the win last out in an optional-claiming allowance at Colonial Downs. “Mrs. Astor’s a neat filly. She just broke through that first-level allowance. She’s a Grade 3-placed filly. I think if you look at her form, I don’t know if she’s ever been off the board, maybe twice in her life. She’s very pace-dependent, needs a quick pace to run into. But I think she could be a competitive stake filly if she keeps going the right way over the winter.” He’s not sure where her next start will be. “There’s a stake at Aqueduct, the Athenia, that we might look at for her. And then I might see what’s available for her out at San Anita or Del Mar. She actually ran very well out there. I think she finished second to Ruby Nell when Ruby Nell won her first-level allowance out there.” That was at Del Mar in July 2023.

Selenaia. The 4-year-old filly by Sea The Moon won the Honeymoon (G3) last year but is 0-for-2 this year and hasn’t raced since May. She’s been breezing, but Thomas doesn’t know whether she’ll return to racing. “She’s a very, very talented filly that has unfortunately just been a little bit off form this year. … As a Grade 3 winner and very, very pretty filly, she’s got being a broodmare in her future, so that could also be the course.”

Regal Realm. The 5-year-old mare by Animal Kingdom won the Ladies Turf (G3) last year at Kentucky Downs but is 0-for-5 since. “Regal Realm is a lovely filly. She’s beautiful and put together a nice year for us last year and has unfortunately been uncharacteristically underwhelming this year. We are going to retire her to the broodmare band. She’s just not really put together things this year.”

2-year-olds

“We’re kind of lean with our 2-year-olds,” Thomas said. “We didn’t quite get the benefits of strong recruiting this year. So we’re a little lean in our 2-year-old group. But what has won has shown enough ability to at least get us a little hopeful. … It’s a business that’s getting very, very condensed. We’re just, we’re starting to feel the pinch a little.”

Geometry. The Twirling Candy colt had his first start going a mile at Kentucky Downs and finishing fifth. He’s entered in a maiden special weight Saturday at Keeneland going 1 1/16 miles with Frankie Dettori riding. He “acts like he’s got some ability, so we’re looking forward to getting him going.”

As Catch Can. This Mo Town filly broke her maiden in August at Colonial Downs in August in her third start and is entered in a one-mile allowance race on turf at Keeneland on Friday. “She’s hinted at a little bit of ability.”

Vamos Carlitos. Another son of Catholic Boy, he won his Sept. 23 debut going 1 mile, 70 yards at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “He’s a neat horse. We didn’t expect him to really do that. He’s kind of a big, immature Catholic Boy. It came off the turf, obviously, but I thought he actually ran quite well because he’s going to be much better on the turf. It’s not easy, winning around two turns first time out. So I think that was more a function of physical ability than anything else. So we were definitely very pleased with him.”