Uncle Mo prominent for Derby, Oaks

Red-hot young stallion Uncle Mo continued to light it up over the weekend, with four colts from his first crop currently under consideration for the Kentucky Derby after last weekend’s three major prep races.

The sire’s contingent is, of course, led by unbeaten juvenile champion Nyquist, who established himself as the Derby favorite by winning the Florida Derby on April 2. Joining Nyquist in the top five of the current Kentucky Derby points list is Outwork, who punched his ticket by winning the Wood Memorial on Saturday. Outwork runs as a homebred for Mike Repole, who campaigned his sire.

With two Kentucky Derby points races remaining, Uncle Mo also has Mo Tom in 18th on the points list, the maiden Laoban in 21st, and Uncle Lino in 22nd. However, Uncle Lino has already been ruled out of Kentucky Derby consideration by his trainer after he finished third in last Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby; Laoban was fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

In last Saturday’s major Kentucky Oaks preps, Uncle Mo’s Grade 2-winning daughter Mo d’Amour finished third in the Gazelle Stakes to place herself in eighth on the points list. Another filly, Mokat, is also in the top 10 after finishing second to champion Songbird in the Santa Anita Oaks. Mokat was not an early nominee to the Kentucky Oaks but could be made a late nominee by Wednesday with a $1,500 payment, a route her connections indicated they will take.

The champion Uncle Mo, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., led not only the 2015 freshman sire list but also the overall juvenile sire list. His seasonal bankroll of $3,632,314 was a freshman-season record, shattering the $2,811,337 amassed in 2008 by Tapit, now the reigning two-time leading general sire. Through the first quarter of 2016, Uncle Mo ranks third on the general sires list behind Lucky Pulpit – the sire of Dubai World Cup winner California Chrome – and Tapit.