Mo Mosa notches upset in Bosselman Pump and Pantry/Gus Fonner

Mo Mosa upset 2-5 favorite Sleepy Eyes Todd in Fonner Park’s richest race Saturday, when he was always prominent for a 1 1/2-length win in the $75,000 Bosselman Pump and Pantry/Gus Fonner Stakes.

Box Seat closed for second, forging home a half-length in front of third-place finisher Sleepy Eyes Todd.

Sleepy Eyes Todd won the three-turn race a year ago, and on Saturday was making his first start since finishing 10th in the $12 million Dubai World Cup on March 27. The horse is an earner of $1.8 million, and last year after his start at Fonner he went on to win the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic, the Lafayette at Keeneland, and the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector at Gulfstream Park.

Mo Mosa ($11.80) invaded from Oaklawn for the Bosselman/Fonner, and was with the pace from the start of the 1 1/16-miles stakes, racing with Most Amusing through an opening quarter in 24 seconds. Sleepy Eyes Todd stalked the leaders in fifth as Mo Mosa continued on with Most Amusing through a half-mile in 47.80 seconds and six furlongs in 1:13. Mo Mosa started to move clear of his pace rival on the final turn and comfortably held off a bid from Sleepy Eyes Todd, then Box Seat.

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The winner covered the distance on a fast track in 1:46.80.

“He broke sharp, I never asked him, and he just took me [to the front],” winning rider Armando Martinez said in a post-race interview broadcast by Fonner. “When I asked him to run down the stretch, he switched leads and he responded.”

Earlier in the meet, Martinez reached a milestone of 2,000 career victories between Canada and the United States.

Mike Maker trains Mo Mosa for the horse’s breeders, Perry Martin and Denise Martin. The son of Uncle Mo was winning his first stakes and overall has won 3 of 15 starts for earnings of $213,875.