Late last year I saw a 3-year-old colt named Uncle Mo win The Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park in a hand ride after dueling early in a first quarter in :22 1/5th seconds. Now, in my estimation, if you can last on the lead at 6 or 7 furlongs after running the first quarter in :22 1./5th seconds I consider that a nice performance.

But getting 1-mile after dueling through the first half of the race posting a :22 1/5th opening quarter is eye opening. And finishing in a hand ride and coming home in a very good  :24 seconds is pretty darn impressive to say the least. And quite simply doing it as a 2-year-old means that something pretty special is going on. Of course by the time of Mo’s following victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile everyone knew of the capability’s Uncle Mo.

To start his 3-year-old campaign Uncle Mo was enetered in the 1-mile Timely Writer. But why? I couldn’t understand why this horse, with the chance of being great, was entered in a race and at a distance that just didn’t seem able enough to allow the needed conditioning and foundation to get 1 1/4 miles about 50 days and just one more prep race later.

In Mo’s following race, The Wood Memorial he was allowed the early lead under soft splits and caved in late. I just couldn’t believe that Mo looked so bad. The works prior to the Wood were not very good. And I was up in arms stating that Mo will never get 1 1/4 miles in The Derby training and racing so lightly. I couldn’t believe Pletcher woukld rely on Mo’s talent so heavily without insuring that Mo can get 1 1/4 miles in the Derby.

In retrospect did Pletcher realize something was wrong or different with Mo the prior months before launching his 3-yer-old campaign? What would better explain the weird campaign Mo had been given to start his 3-year-old season? 

Either way I guess that’s all in the past. Uncle Mo is healthy again and looked very good rating sprinting off the early lead this past Saturday. He turned on the juice heading home and got to the top in the stretch in a hotly contested comeback race against a solid field.

He seemed leg weary late and got beat at the wire but I feel it was a great effort to build on. I expect Mo to be his old self next time out having this race under his belt and will show us his brillinace once again.

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