California-bred Uncle Mo colt debuts Sunday

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mobou, a rare California-bred by leading stallion Uncle Mo, will make his debut in a maiden race for 2-year-old statebreds in Sunday’s fifth race at Santa Anita.

Bought for $390,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale, Mobou races for Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs and will be ridden by Gary Stevens. Mobou drew the rail in a field of eight, which has tempered Shirreffs’s expectations for Sunday’s race, but not the colt’s long-term prospects.

“In the morning, he looks very talented,” Shirreffs said. “I expect him to run a good race. It’s unfortunate he drew an inside post. I think Gary can negotiate that well.

“I wouldn’t expect him to be on the lead out of the gate. He’s got good confirmation and good mind for a young 2-year-old. He’s got a lot of good qualities. It would be nice to get a start here and go to Del Mar.”

Mobou will start against four other first-time starters, including Mr Paytience, trained by Doug O’Neill, and No New Friends, trained by Jeff Bonde. O’Neill has already won three 2-year-old races at Santa Anita this spring.

There are two maiden races for California-breds at 4 1/2 furlongs on Sunday. In the first division, the third race, O’Neill has two of the seven entrants – Occam’s Razor and Takeo Squared, both by Square Eddie.

Occam’s Razor is a first-time starter with solid recent works from the gate. Takeo Squared was third to stablemate Carnivorous in a similar race May 19.