Uncle Mo

Off as the 3-1 favorite in the first-ever Grade I event to be contested at Kentucky Downs, Gold Square LLC's Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) came with an irresistible run three or four off the inside at the eighth pole and turned back a late challenge from the well-backed Yellow Card (Lost Treasure {Ire}) to take out the $2-million Aristocrat Franklin-Simpson Stakes Saturday afternoon. Away alertly from his high draw, Howard Wolowitz was ridden positively by Irad Ortiz, Jr. and raced wide, but not far from Joe Shiesty (Air Force Blue), who...

Owned by Alex Bregman's Bregman Family Stable, Laurice (Bolt d'Oro) kicked off her career in the right way, winning Saturday's sixth race at Saratoga. The race was run at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf and Laurice was sent off at 7-2. Bregman is an MLB All-Star who plays for the Houston Astros and has been an enthusiastic owner since getting involved in racing. George Weaver was the winning trainer. With Junior Alvarado aboard, Laurice stalked the pace set by Moonlight Promises (Promises Fulfilled), took control at the top of...

GISW Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo-Borealis Night, by Astrology), has been retired from racing and will stand at Hill 'n' Dale, according to a farm release Monday. Sold for $250,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale, the Corser Thoroughbreds bred colt brought a sale-topping $2.3 million from Zedan Racing at the OBS Spring Sale the following season. "He showed his brilliance from day one of the 2YO sale where he was a man amongst boys. We knew he was special from the moment we saw him. He has what I love...

Three 'TDN Rising Star' debutants last weekend followed up in graded stakes to confirm their place among the leading juveniles of the summer. Two were by established big guns Uncle Mo and Curlin. But GIII Sorrento Stakes winner Nooni is by a $5,000 Florida rookie who had already that day celebrated his first black-type winner, by nearly five lengths, in his backyard at Gulfstream. That's some day at the office for Win Win Win, and confirms the contrasts emerging from the early skirmishes in the freshman table. Obviously the cavalries...

'TDN Rising Star' Showcase (c, 2, Uncle Mo--Buy Sell Hold, by Violence), a runaway debut winner going 5 1/2 furlongs downstate at the Big A July 6, muscled his way out for racing room in the stretch and stayed perfect in style going an additional furlong in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special Stakes. The 3-1 chance traveled nicely in an inside fifth through an opening quarter in :21.85. All dressed up with nowhere to go at the top of the lane, Irad Ortiz, Jr. finally found a narrow seam and shifted...

She did it again. Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (m, 5, Uncle Mo--Brooklynsway, by Giant Gizmo), who was coming off wins in the GI Apple Blossom Handicap and GII Santa Margarita Stakes, made it three straight in winning the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar for the second year in a row. She earned a 'Win and You're In' fees-paid berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, which will be contested over this same surface in three months. Adare Manor broke nicely in the Clement Hirsch, content to...

1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:10 p.m. ET. FIRST CLASS LADY (Uncle Mo) debuts for Douglas Scharbauer and Stonestreet. Made a $900,000 purchase at last year's Keeneland September Sale, the Steve Asmussen trainee is the second registered foal, but first to the races for Stonestreet homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Lady Pauline (Munnings). This dam, who is herself out of Puerto Rican champion D' Wildcat Speed (Forest Wildcat), is a half-sister to G1 King's Stand Stakes heroine Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy)--the dam of SW American Rascal (Curlin)--both of whom...

Modernist (Uncle Mo) will shuttle to Chile and stand at Haras Dadinco for the Southern Hemisphere 2024 season, it was announced via presser Friday. The winner of the GII Risen Star Stakes and the GIII Excelsior Stakes with on-the-board finishes in three other graded contests, he'd retired to Darby Dan in 2022 and bred 280 mares in his first three years at stud. Modernist hails from the female line of Broodmare of the Year Sweet Life (Kris S.), who also produced his dam's half-sisters GI Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (now...

In a race featuring the return of heralded 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), it was the lightly-raced 4-year-old Dr. Venkman (Ghostzapper) who stole the show en route to a win in the GII San Diego Handicap Saturday at Del Mar. A winner last year of his first two starts at Del Mar by a combined 10 3/4 lengths, the Mark Glatt runner shipped east to just miss by a head in the Perryville Stakes at Keeneland in October. Off a long layoff, he reappeared in California to contest...

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) will host an online 'Stallions for Second Chances Halter Auction' beginning Saturday, July 27 at 8:30 p.m. ET and concluding the evening of Saturday, Aug. 3. The halters of four stallions have been donated by their respective farms: Gun Runner (Three Chimneys); Into Mischief (Spendthrift); Tapit (Gainesway); and Uncle Mo (Coolmore America). Each halter is accompanied by a handcrafted shadowbox made by artisan Matt Martinez of Martinez Woodworks in Lexington, Ky. All proceeds will benefit The TRF Second Chances program, which gives incarcerated individuals the...

7th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 3:54 p.m. ET. SAM'S ROCKET (American Pharoah) debuts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The colt went for $115,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Fall Yearling Sale before going to Frank Fletcher for $925,000 as the second highest price during this year's OBS April Sale. Dam More Roses (Uncle Mo) was purchased by D.C. Goff for $475,000 at the 2021 Keeneland November Sale while Sam's Rocket--her only foal to date--was in utero. The first-time starter's stakes-winning second dam Flattermewithroses (Flatter) also produced two-time GII Santa...

by Christina Bossinakis & Stefanie Grimm Lexington, KY--The onset of the yearling season every summer can be a bit of a worrisome time for many. With the yearlings that have been so painstakingly selected by Fasig-Tipton's team for its first yearling sale of the season, it can often be a bit unnerving whether things will go off without a hitch or not. And at the conclusion of Tuesday's yearling session, it appeared that it had. "It was a fantastic start to the 2024 yearling sales season," affirmed Fasig-Tipton President and...