The king is dead, long live the king! This seemingly contradictory proclamation is often made following the accession of a new monarch. It simultaneously announces the death of the previous monarch while also saluting the newcomer to the throne. The Thoroughbred industry was rocked by the loss of classic sire and perennial leading stallion Uncle Mo in December. But meanwhile, his champion son Nyquist was wrapping up the best season of his career to date. With promising runners still on the track, several well-bred crops of his own still to come, Nyquist a strong success, and several other promising sons in the pipeline, Uncle Mo may be gone – but long will he live. Uncle Mo was “an incredible racehorse and a sire of genuine brilliance that will impact generations to come,” Tom Ryan of SF Racing said of the stallion’s impact. Uncle Mo was euthanized Dec. 19, a day after incurring a serious injury to his left foreleg at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud, where he stood his entire career. He underwent surgery for the injury, but “the recovery process was too much for him to endure,” owner Mike Repole said. The son of Indian Charlie was a relatively young 16. “Uncle Mo was so much more to me than a champion and iconic stallion – he was and always will be a part of my family,” Repole said. Uncle Mo, trained throughout his career by Todd Pletcher, put together an unbeaten 2-year-old campaign, winning the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile to secure a divisional Eclipse Award. He was a Grade 2 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed in a roller-coaster 3-year-old campaign interrupted by illness before retiring to Ashford. Uncle Mo got off to a flying start as the leading freshman sire of 2015, establishing then-record earnings in the category. His son Nyquist followed in his footsteps with an unbeaten Eclipse championship campaign that year, capped by the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Nyquist went on to win the 2016 Kentucky Derby before retiring to Darley in Kentucky starting with the 2017 season. He became the leading freshman sire of 2020, with Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and Eclipse champion Vequist in that first crop. The season would be a harbinger of things to come as behind Nyquist on the freshman earnings list, Uncle Mo’s son Laoban finished second, and another son, Outwork, was fourth. Uncle Mo went on to rank among the nation’s top 10 living general sires each year since 2019. To date, he is the sire of 114 stakes winners, and versatility has been his hallmark. In addition to classic winner Nyquist, he also is the sire of 2022 Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal. But while that colt was winning a marathon classic on dirt, Uncle Mo also was represented by Golden Pal, winner of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and 2021 Turf Sprint. He also is the sire of Grade 1 winners A Mo Reay, Adare Manor, Arabian Knight, Bast, Dream Tree, Gomo, Kingsbarns, Mo Forza, Mo Town, Outwork, Unbridled Mo, and Yaupon. Uncle Mo finished eighth on the 2024 general sire earnings list, led by multiple Grade 1 winner and Eclipse Award finalist Adare Manor and fellow Grade 1 winner Kingsbarns. Nyquist finished 15th on the general sire earnings list, his best placing to date; he was 25th in 2023. Nyquist also was a close second to six-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief (Spendthrift Farm) on the 2-year-old sires list. Nyquist’s season was led by Immersive, who won three Grade 1 races, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and was resoundingly voted the Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly. Nyquist also was represented in 2024 by Grade 1 winners Johannes, an Eclipse Award finalist for champion turf male, Randomized, and Tenma. He was tied for second by Grade 1 winners on the season, as Into Mischief sired five, and Gun Runner (Three Chimneys Farm) also sired four. Among the nation’s top 15 general sires by earnings, Nyquist had the highest percentage of Grade 1 winners from starters, with 1.6 percent to Gun Runner’s 1.5 percent. Although Nyquist is a clear standout, Uncle Mo also was well represented elsewhere on the sire lists. Mo Town (Ashford Stud) checked in 50th on the general sires earnings list. King for a Day (Irish Hill and Dutchess Views Stallions) was New York’s runner-up freshman sire; he and Caracaro (Crestwood Farm) both were among the top 25 freshmen nationally. Although Laoban died in 2021 – his final crop is 3 years old this year – and Outwork, sire of Grade 1 winner Brightwork, will stand in Saudi Arabia for 2025, Uncle Mo is still well represented by some two dozen sons at stud in North America. Many of them are early in their careers. Grade 2 winner Modernist (Darby Dan Farm), Grade 1 winner Mo Forza (Rancho San Miguel), and Grade 1 winner Yaupon (Spendthrift) will all be freshmen with their first runners this year. Of that trio, Yaupon has gotten strong early support. His first book of mares included Eclipse Award champion and prominent broodmare Folklore; Canadian classic winner and champion Holy Helena; and Grade 1 winners Belle Gallantey, Downthedustyroad, and Got Stormy. He averaged $165,349 from 129 yearlings sold last year, more than five times his introductory stud fee of $30,000. In the class behind them, Golden Pal (Ashford) and Mo Donegal (Spendthrift) have their first yearlings this year; Golden Pal covered more mares than any other stallion in North America in his first season, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. This year, Uncle Mo is represented in Kentucky by Grade 1-winning newcomers Arabian Knight (Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm) and Kingsbarns (Spendthrift). But just because Uncle Mo – also the broodmare sire of Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna and additional Grade 1 winners Geaux Rocket Ride, Howard Wolowitz, and Muth – is gone and has several stellar sons in the pipeline doesn’t mean he’s done making an impact on the track in his own right. His 2-year-old crop of 2024 ranked 21st in the country, led by Grade 2 winners First Resort and Showcase. His yearlings were led by a $1 million colt at Keeneland September, and he averaged $338,479 from 48 sold, against their conception stud fee of $160,000. During the same yearling sale season, Nyquist had 71 yearlings sold – three of those for seven figures – for an average of $278,526, against a conception stud fee of $55,000. Some of Uncle Mo’s best-bred yearlings from that crop are the property of breed-to-race operations, however, and his upcoming crop of 2-year-olds for 2025 will be exciting. In 2022, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred, he covered champion and multiple stakes producer Close Hatches, as well as her dam; champion Judy the Beauty; Grade 1 winners Marketing Mix, Miss Temple City, Noted and Quoted, Sweet Loretta, and Switch; the dam of champion Take Charge Brandi; the dams of Belmont winners Mo Donegal and Tapwrit; the dam of Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar; and the dams of Grade 1 winners Adare Manor, Bast, Dream Tree, Maxfield, Mucho Gusto, Omaha Beach, Outwork, and Say the Word. Uncle Mo, who was to stand for $125,000 in 2025, covered books of 243 and 202 mares in what proved his final two seasons, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred. The 2023 book included champion Rags to Riches, winner of the Kentucky Oaks and Belmont Stakes, along with, again, Judy the Beauty; Grade 1 winners A Z Warrior, Coffee Clique, Marley’s Freedom, and Nickname; the dam of champion Fierceness; the dams of Oaks winners Princess of Sylmar and Shedaresthedevil; and the dams of Grade 1 winners Bast, Battle of Midway, Bodemeister, Come Dancing, and Dream Tree. His final book included champions Judy the Beauty, Lady Eli, Nest, and Take Charge Brandi; Grade 1 winners A Z Warrior, Civil Union, Constellation, Rachel’s Valentina, and Salty; the dams of champions Classic Empire, Midnight Bisou, and Swiss Skydiver – also a Preakness winner – and the dams of Grade 1 winners Battle of Midway, Collected, and Volatile. “We have two mares in foal to him, two weanlings by him, and [graded stakes winner] Steal Sunshine’s mother was booked back to him,” Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall wrote on social media. “Heartbreaking loss. My deepest condolences to his long-time groom [Rene Macias] especially who I am told never left his side once in the clinic. [Uncle Mo] is/was a breed changer.” Nyquist covered 171 mares in 2024, at an advertised fee of $85,000. A solid lineup in his own right included Grade 1 winner Heavenly Love, the dam of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion Sierra Leone; Grade 1 winner Music Note, dam of Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide; the dam of Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Caravel; Grade 1 winner Switch; and the dams of Grade 1 winners Alva Starr and Dream Tree. Nyquist’s fee more than doubles for 2025, to $175,000 at Darley. “When you speak of the best stallions right now in North America, Nyquist has to be in that conversation,” Darley sales manager Darren Fox said. “His progeny reflect amazing versatility; short, long, dirt, and turf. It really doesn’t matter the surface or distance. His best books are his most recent books, so all indicators point to continued success in the future.”