Team D and the Coolmore partners' 'TDN Rising Star' Mo Town (Uncle Mo) took a major step toward rebounding from a disappointing fifth-place finish as the favorite in the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds Feb. 25, shipping in to Gulfstream Park from his Payson Park base Thursday morning for the sole purpose of familiarizing himself with the local strip. On an unseasonably chilly morning in South Florida, the GII Remsen S.-winning Anthony Dutrow trainee worked six furlongs in 1:13.24 [video] beneath Hall of Fame pilot Johnny Velazquez in preparation for a possible start in the Apr. 1 GI Xpressbet.com Florida Derby.
“I liked what I saw, I thought the horse was very smooth over the racetrack,” Dutrow said, moments after the work, as he prepared to meet Mo Town back at the barn. “He went very evenly the whole way, and seemed to gallop out excellent. I'm happy with today's workout.”
Mo Town, who breezed solo while breaking off from the five-eighths pole, ticked off fractions of 36.23 and 1:00.09. While under urging from Velazquez, the son of Uncle Mo worked a furlong beyond the wire. His seven-furlong gallop-out time was 1:27.26. Dutrow said a major factor behind the decision to make the 90-mile journey to work over the Hallandale oval was his suspicion that Mo Town did not handle the racing surface at the Fair Grounds.
“I had a lot of reasons for coming here today from Payson Park,” Dutrow added. “Number one was to get a very good workout in the horse [somewhere] other than at Payson Park. He's been breezing all winter long at Payson Park, so I wanted to get him down here at a racetrack for a very good workout. Number two was that I wanted to see how he got along with Gulfstream Park because of the Florida Derby, after having the bad experience at the Fair Grounds.”
Dutrow added that his colt can benefit from a break from his typical routine at bucolic Payson Park.
“I wanted to get him in the excitement-type atmosphere of a racetrack,” Dutrow explained. “I just wanted to get [as many of] race-day type of situations as we could create in the morning.”
While the Florida Derby seems like the most likely next start for Mo Town because of its timing and geographic location, Dutrow did not rule out the possibility of shipping north to compete in the Apr. 8 GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct–where he captured the Remsen last autumn.
“I will talk to Johnny and then I will talk to Coolmore, and then a decision will be made,” Dutrow said of his options for Mo Town's final prep race for a potential try in the May 6 GI Kentucky Derby. “He also has to draw somewhat well in the Florida Derby. If he didn't draw well, we wouldn't run here.”
Mo Town became a 'Rising Star' off a seven-length graduation at second asking going a mile at Belmont Sept. 24 and followed with a decisive stalk-and-pounce score in the Nov. 26 Remsen. The $200,000 KEESEP yearling buy was pounded down to 3-2 favoritism in the Risen Star and flattened out to finish fifth after tracking an honest early pace.
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