Uncle Mo

9th-Fair Grounds, $55,000, Alw (NW3$X)/Opt. Clm ($80,000), 3-6, 4yo/up, 1mT, 1:39.39, fm, 1/2 length. DONEGAL MOMENTUM (c, 4, Uncle Mo--Moon Dash {SP}, by Malibu Moon) was named a 'TDN Rising Star' at the beginning of a 3-year-old campaign which saw him win the Gio Ponti Stakes in October and finish out his season with a third, just one length off winner Formidable Man (City of Light) who took last week's GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile, in the GI Hollywood Derby at Del Mar Nov. 30. Cutting back to the mile...

Godolphin's First Resort (Uncle Mo) will scratch from Saturday's $175,000 John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park after exiting a workout earlier this week with stiffness in his left hind leg, according to trainer Eoin Harty. The 2-1 morning-line favorite was set to make his 3-year-old debut following a victory in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club last fall at Churchill Downs. He worked a half-mile in :51.20 (8/11) at Turfway Tuesday. "I worked him (Tuesday), and by Wednesday he was a little stiff behind," Harty said. "He hasn't really improved, so we're...

Following on from the eye-catching performance of Audubon Park (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) at Chantilly on Friday, the Yeguada Centurion homebred Tito Mo Cen (Ire) (Uncle Mo--Raven's Lady {GB}, by Raven's Pass) delivered the ultimate display of one-upmanship as he stormed to TDN Rising Star status in the colts' division. Dominating from the front throughout the 9 1/2-furlong Prix de la Grange de Commelles staged on the Polytrack, the Victoria Head-trained half-brother to the luminary Ramatuelle (Justify) really turned it on from two out and opened up to hit the line...

8th-GP, 94K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:49 p.m. Debuting for Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing and trainer Brian Lynch, SHRED THE GNAR (Into Mischief) is a full-sister to MGSW/MGISP Owendale. Purchased for $610,000 at FTSAUG in 2023, the filly is out of a Bernardini half-sister to GI Lane's End Breeders' Futurity winner Great Hunter (Aptitude). This is the family of champion 3-year-old filly Stellar Wind (Curlin). Just to her outside, Kapoor (Uncle Mo) is a Godolphin homebred out of a Medaglia d'Oro half-sister to Japanese MG1SW Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB})....

From Godolphin's 12 starters in 10 renewals of the GI Kentucky Derby, favored Essential Quality (Tapit)'s promoted third-place finish following Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s medication disqualification in 2021 has been the best result to date. With four serious contenders--all homebreds--on target for upcoming Kentucky Derby preps and fresh off a fifth consecutive Eclipse Award as outstanding owner, could this be the year for Sheikh Mohammed's powerhouse global operation? "We've been there before and we've had chances," Godolphin USA Director of Bloodstock Michael Banahan said. "Who knows what's written in the stars,...

We're inside the 13-week mark to the GI Kentucky Derby with no seismic changes to the running order at this early stage of the season. The rankings are fairly evenly distributed among contenders based on both coasts and in Kentucky, Arkansas and Louisiana. 1) FIRST RESORT (c, Uncle Mo-Fair Maiden, by Street Boss). O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty. Lifetime record GSW, 4-2-1-0, $338,671. Last start: WON Nov. 30 GII Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. First Resort's 6-1 win in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Nov. 30 rated as the most visually...

5th-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 2-1, 3yo, 1 1/16m (AWT), 1:42.82, ft, 3 1/4 lengths. EMERGENCE (c, 3, Uncle Mo--Belle Watling, by Pulpit), let go at 7-1, was shuffled back in traffic into the first turn and settled near the back of the pack down the backstretch. The dark bay colt began inching closer nearing the far turn, rolled up three wide into the stretch and bound to the lead before drawing clear to graduate by 3 1/4 lengths. Daham (American Pharoah) was second. Emergence, a $475,000 KEESEP yearling, is a half-brother...

WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s Rapture (c, 3, Uncle Mo--Positively Royal, by Bernardini) had to be used some early on to gain a forward position from an awkward draw, but settled nicely from there just off the speed and responded when asked to finish off his race to graduate by 6 3/4 lengths in his two-turn debut Saturday at Oaklawn Park to earn 'TDN Rising Star' honors. A debut second as the favorite to subsequent strong-figure Tampa allowance winner Vassimo (Nyquist) on his one-mile unveiling at Gulfstream Park Dec. 14,...

8th-SA, 60K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 7:07 p.m. A pair of Bob Baffert-trained stablemates drew side by side in their Santa Anita debuts. BRILLIANTLY (Uncle Mo), the outside runner of the two, cost the partnership of Pegram, Watson and Weitman $500,000 as a yearling at Keeneland in 2023. She is the second foal out of a stakes-placed Bernardini first dam from the family of Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Leigh Court (Grand Slam). Inside of her, Maysam (Game Winner), from an American Pharoah first dam, put in a quick furlong...

Hypnus (c, 3, Into Mischief--Dream Tree, by Uncle Mo) became the 48th 'TDN Rising Star' for his superstar sire with an impressive debut victory around two turns in the slop on the GIII Lecomte Stakes undercard at Fair Grounds Saturday. Overlooked at 16-1 for trainer Kenny McPeek, he broke sharply beneath Brian Hernandez, Jr., but was content to slot into sixth through fractions of :23.30 and :47.76. Traveling nicely but still with plenty to do approaching the quarter pole, he hit the gas at the top of the stretch and...

11th-GP, $94k, Msw, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 5:18p.m. ET Unveiled to the far outside is $350,000 OBSAPR pick up NUK SOO KOW (McKinzie) for Hit The Bid Stable and trainer John Terranova. Out of a placed half-sister to GI Champagne Stakes runner-up Commandperformance (Union Rags), the colt hails from the female family of GSW Blind Date (Not for Love), dam of MSW Paulita (Scat Daddy). To the far outside and making a second jump for trainer Chad Brown is Constitution Road (Constitution). He overcame a rough trip on debut as a...

1st-Gulfstream, $50,000, (S), Msw, 1-9, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:40.84, fm, 1 1/2 lengths. MO HARMONY (f, 3, Uncle Mo--Leslie's Harmony, by Curlin) finished sixth at a well-backed 5-2 on debut sprinting on the all-weather here Dec. 1. Adding Lasix, stretching to two turns and trying turf this time, the 6-5 favorite broke in and bumped with a rival at the start and was checked hard in traffic and shuffled back into seventh passing the wire for the first time. An inside sixth through a half mile in :46.68, she...