Mo Donegal

Belmont Stakes 154: Where Did They Come From?

1) WE THE PEOPLE, c, Constitution--Letchworth, by Tiznow Owner: WinStar Farm, Bobby Flay, CMNWLTH, Siena Farm Breeder: Henley Farms (KY) Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset Sales History: $110,000 Keeneland November weanling, $220,000 Keeneland September yearling, $230,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream 2-year-old Pedigree Notes: Trying to become the second Belmont winner in three years for WinStar's star fourth-crop sire (Tiz the Law in 2020), We the People is the second foal to race out of Letchworth, a $40,000 Keeneland January purchase by Henley Farms at Keeneland January in 2019. Letchworth is a daughter of Harmony...

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This Side Up: Passport to Victory

Heritage, as a substitute for internationally adequate prize money, is literally priceless to the nation that cradled the Thoroughbred. Nowhere is this more apparent than at Royal Ascot, where prestige and pageant will next week again draw not just global attention but also global participation. As a result, this most definitively English of occasions has in recent years become ever more cosmopolitan. It's a pretty precarious arrangement for British racing, in that the economic model harnessed to its cultural assets-namely, an export market for yearlings and horses-in-training-threatens ultimately to erode...

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Rail-Drawn We the People Favored for Belmont Stakes; Derby Winner Rich Strike Third Choice

ELMONT, NY -- With GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) exiting from post four, a field of eight was drawn Tuesday morning for Saturday's 154th GI Belmont Stakes. The historic, come-from-behind 80-1 Derby upsetter heads to the final leg of the Triple Crown fresh after breaking the norm and skipping the GI Preakness S. He has been installed as the third choice on the morning line at odds of 7-2. The $30,000 claim-to-fame will attempt to be the first non-Triple Crown winner to capture both the Kentucky Derby...

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Top Contenders Put in Final Belmont Breezes

Several major contenders for next week's $1.5-million GI Belmont S. completed their final serious preparations Saturday morning. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher seeks his fourth Belmont trophy, and sent out his pair of representatives, GII Wood Memorial S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and GI Longines Kentucky Oaks runner-up Nest (Curlin), to an in-company half in :49.90 (68/129) over the Belmont training track. Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Jose Ortiz, respectively, piloted the pair, who Pletcher caught breaking off in :24.80 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:14 and seven furlongs...

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Belmont Pair Are Latest 'A' Lysters

Wayne Lyster always knew it to be miracle enough, for a farm this size, simply to get both into the starting gate. The Derby-Oaks double hadn't been accomplished since the heyday of Calumet, 70 years previously, and at Ashview, they foal out no more than a couple of dozen mares every spring. As such, Lyster can justly take pride in the fact that both Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and Nest (Curlin) finished their races so well, for fifth and second, respectively, that they are now converging instead on the GI...

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The Week in Review: The Met Mile Belongs on Memorial Day

A New York racing tradition began in 1971, the first time that Memorial Day was officially celebrated each year on the last Monday in May. A crowd of 61,147 showed up that Monday at Belmont Park to watch Tunex win the $121,600 Metropolitan Mile for trainer Allen Jerkens and owner Hobeau Farm. For the next 42 years, New York racing fans circled Memorial Day on their calendars, knowing that it would be one of the biggest days of the year, thanks to the GI Metropolitan H. In 1976 and 1977,...

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Pletcher Stars, Including Potential Belmont S. duo, Highlight Busy Worktab

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher's potential GI Belmont S. duo of Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and the filly Nest (Curlin) worked in company Friday morning. Nest, with Jose Ortiz aboard, and Mo Donegal, who was piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr., went to the fast main track under cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s. Nest worked to the inside of Mo Donegal as both horses completed their five-furlong moves in 1:02.99, followed by an extended three-eighths gallop out. "The main thing I tried to emphasize to Jose and Irad...

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Pletcher Sophs Work Towards Belmont Day Spots
Pletcher Sophs Work Towards Belmont Day Spots

A trio of 3-year-olds from the barn of Todd Pletcher took to the Belmont dirt training track Friday morning as they prepare for stakes engagements during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), who defeated GI Preakness S. hopeful Early Voting (Gun Runner) in the GII Wood Memorial S. Apr. 9 ahead of a closing fifth in the GI Kentucky Derby May 7, breezed a half-mile in the company of his GI Central Bank Ashland S.-winning stable companion Nest (Curlin) in :50.02. Owned by Donegal Racing and Repole...

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Mike Repole Talks Derby, Oaks, Uncle Mo, Kobe Bryant On Writers' Room
Mike Repole Talks Derby, Oaks, Uncle Mo, Kobe Bryant On Writers' Room

In arguably the most entertaining interview of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland's 130-plus episode history, billionaire and high-profile owner/breeder Mike Repole sat down with Joe Bianca and Jon Green Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week for a lively discussion that covered Repole's GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks chances this weekend, his shared legacy with super-stallion Uncle Mo, his eight-figure donation to a nonprofit that honors his late friend Kobe Bryant and much more. Looking for his first Derby win Saturday with Mo Donegal...

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Mike Repole Joins the TDN Writers' Room

Mike Repole joined this week's TDN Writers' Room ahead of a big weekend for Repole Stable's Mo Donegal and Nest in the Kentucky Derby and Oaks.

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Repole, BodyArmor, Donate $24 Million to Youth Sports

BodyArmor and its founder, Mike Repole, will donate $24 million to the Mamba and Mambacita Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating positive impact for underserved athletes and boys and girls in sports, the company announced Tuesday. It is the single largest donation that the foundation has ever received. The news was first reported by Front Office Sports. Repole is the co-owner of Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), the co-fourth choice at 10-1 in the morning line for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. The Mamba and Mambacita Foundation was founded in memory...

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Busy Saturday Morning for Kentucky Derby and Oaks Workers

It was an action-packed Saturday morning at Churchill Downs for GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks workers. At 5:15 a.m., the Brad Cox-trained duo of GI Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife (Gun Runner) and GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby runner-up and 'TDN Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) worked six furlongs together in 1:11.20 (1/4) and 1:11.40 (2/4), respectively. At 7:30 a.m., GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. winner Tawny Port (Pioneerof the Nile), with newly named jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr., worked five furlongs for Cox in 1:01.60 (30/57). "There's a lot of excitement leading...

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