Uncle Mo, the horseracing miracle
The American Champion, two-year-old colt, Uncle Mo, is trained by Todd A. Pletcher and was born in 2008 in Kentucky. He is most famous for going unbeaten in his first two years. He is from the league of horses that have broken their maiden at the first chance
available and ever since then, he has gone on to record various achievements in history.
Uncle Mo has always travelled with J R Velazquez and won his very first Group 1 race on 9th October, 2010, with six other contestants on the field. He won this race against Richard Dutrow Jr’s Mountain Bird and the third to finish this race was
I’m Steppin’ It Up.
The next platform where he won was at the Churchill Downs, again a Group 1 race. This time he was challenged by nine others who were racing to claim the title.
Boys At Tosconova was the runner-up for the race with R A Dominguez and Rogue Romance, being ridden by J R Leparoux, finished the race third.
This year’s success began with the Gulfstream Park victory against Kiaran McLaughlin trained Rattlesnake Bridge, being ridden by J Lezcano. The runner-up was followed by Thomas Alberetrani’s Gallant Dreams.
It was at Aqueduct, on 9th April, that Uncle Mo lost for the first time and ended up coming third in the race which was the least expected result.
Todd Pletcher said after the race: “I can’t say I’m shocked, but I’m disappointed. I wouldn’t use that (Mo’s stumble at the start) as an excuse, but after that he was kind of hounded early on. But I thought the fractions were reasonable. It was his first
time a mile and an eighth, first time over the Aqueduct surface. Maybe he got a little tired the last part”.
The race was won by H Graham Motion’s Toby’s Corner, being ridden by E Castro, and positioned second in the race was Arthur’s Tale, trained by Thomas Albertrani, with R A Dominguez onboard.
It was after this devastating race that Uncle Mo was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal infection. Even after finding this out, the connections thought that he can still be sent for the Kentucy Derby which was just around the corner.
The intention remained fruitless when Uncle Mo lost over 70 pounds just a few weeks before the Derby and was still on medication so the connections ended up deciding against the Derby.
He was sent to the Winstar Farm for recovery and a further diagnosis disclosed a cholangiohepatitis, a rare liver disease. He stayed under treatment in the same place, at Winstar.
It took him two months to put back at least 110 pounds after which he was returned to Todd Pletcher on 11 July, 2011. After recovering, the first race that he participated in was at Saratoga where he stood second against Caleb’s Posse.
The fact that he had very recently recovered and could still manage a second position was a satisfying factor for the connections.
“It’s a steady progression”, said Todd Pletcher
“We stepped it up to a half today, and I particularly like the way he galloped out. His fitness level is more than I expected it to be. He was into it”.
The last Uncle Mo raced this season was at the Belmont Park, in the beginning of this month, where he stood first with Nicholas Zito’s Jackson Bend second in line.
Uncle Mo’s next target is the Breeders’ Cup and till then there is no further news about his retirement whatsoever.
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