Uncle Mo takes his success to new level as sire of sires

Uncle Mo was expected to be a fine sire of juveniles. After all, he had been an Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old himself. However, no one could have predicted the scope of his early success, as he broke the mold with a record-setting freshman season.

Five years later, Uncle Mo, firmly ensconced as a successful general sire, is breaking the mold once again. Not only did he lead the nation by graded stakes winners in 2020, but his first sons to stud took three of the top four places on the North American freshman sire list, led by Nyquist, who has ably emulated his sire both on the racetrack and at stud.

“It is one thing for a stallion to be good in his own right, but what Uncle Mo did in 2020 as a sire of sires takes him to a completely different level,” said Charlie O’Connor, director of sales at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, where Uncle Mo resides. “Not only is he the sire of three of the top four freshmen sires, but he achieved that feat with his first crop of sons to go to stud, which is truly remarkable. We haven’t seen anything like this since Storm Cat.”

Uncle Mo, by Indian Charlie, put together an unbeaten championship campaign as a 2-year-old, highlighted by a victory in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. Five years later, Nyquist went unbeaten in his first season on the track, securing his divisional Eclipse with a win in the 2015 BC Juvenile at Keeneland. Uncle Mo finished that season not only as North America’s leading freshman sire, but the leading overall juvenile sire. Moreover, his seasonal earnings of $3,632,314 became the continent’s freshman-season record, shattering the $2,811,337 amassed in 2008 by Tapit.

Off the success of his first season, Uncle Mo garnered a stronger book of mares in early 2016. That quality only rose for 2017, as Nyquist went on to win the Kentucky Derby. The foals conceived in those crucial years raced as 3-year-olds and 2-year-olds in 2020, and powered Uncle Mo to an outstanding season. The stallion, who was fourth on the general earnings list, led all sires with 14 individual graded stakes winners.

“As his success has grown, so has the quality of the mares he has received and we are now starting to see the results of those matings at the races,” O’Connor said. “Uncle Mo has been supported by the best breeders with their best mares as his fee has increased. He has continuously repaid the faith shown in him by breeders, and with many exciting crops in the pipeline, we are expecting to see this upward trend continue.”

Uncle Mo’s season was led by another Breeders’ Cup winner at Keeneland, as Golden Pal concluded a globe-trotting season with a victory in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Uncle Mo also was represented in 2020 by Grade 2 winners Bast, Enola Gay, Envoutante, Harvest Moon, King Guillermo, Mo Forza, Modernist, and Yaupon; and Grade 3 winners Bye Bye Melvin, Carressa, Donna Veloce, Girl Daddy, and Uncle Chuck. Those graded stakes winners came on both dirt and turf across the country.

“With regards to his versatility as a sire, people may think of Uncle Mo as an out-and-out dirt sire, having sired a Kentucky Derby winner in his first crop, but when you look at his pedigree there are plenty of clues there,” O’Connor said. “Uncle Mo himself is out of an Arch mare, and his grandsire In Excess was a high-class turf horse in Europe before coming to the States and being switched to the main track. [His great-grandsire] Siberian Express won the French Guineas, so it isn’t really a surprise to see the versatility his progeny demonstrate with regard to racing surface.”

Like his sire, Nyquist sired a multiple Grade 1-winning Breeders’ Cup victor in his first crop. Vequist took the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga and then won the BC Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland. Trainer Butch Reid Jr. said he believes that, like her sire, Vequist will continue to stretch out.

“Even when she made her debut, it seemed like there was no limit to how far she’ll go,” Reid said. “Her mother ran at a mile and an eighth and ran long, and so did Nyquist, so I think the farther, the better with her.”

Nyquist, who finished third on the overall juvenile sire list behind Into Mischief and Tapit, also sired Gretzky the Great, winner of the Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine; Grade 1-placed fillies Lady Lilly and Nasreddine; and graded stakes-placed The Great One.

“Nyquist is just turning out to be a phenomenal sire,” said Mark Casse, who trains Gretzky the Great.

Finishing second to Nyquist on the freshman list was Uncle Mo’s Grade 2-winning son Laoban, who was a breakout success from his first crop conceived at Sequel Stallions in New York. He is the sire of Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes winner Simply Ravishing, while his son Keepmeinmind finished second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity and third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile before breaking through with a win in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club.

Off his white-hot freshman season, Laoban earned a ticket into the deeper waters of the Kentucky stallion market, as he moved from New York to WinStar Farm for 2021.

“Laoban is stamping his foals and proving to be a cookie-cutter of the Uncle Mo style of stretch and athleticism,” said Becky Thomas of Sequel Stallions. “Then, for him to become the first New York stallion to sire a Grade 1 winner in his first crop is absolutely incredible. It is truly a humbling experience to be a part of what is becoming such an important young stallion. WinStar is a great fit for him, and he is sure to get a wide variety of nice mares coming from all their partnerships and support. We couldn’t be more excited about his future.”

Laoban’s arrival gives WinStar two standout sons of Uncle Mo. They also stand Grade 1 winner Outwork, who finished fourth on the earnings list, siring stakes winners Outadore and Samborella.

“We believe Uncle Mo is an important sire line for the next generation,” WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden said.

With Nyquist, Laoban, and Outwork all emerging from Uncle Mo’s first crop, and additional solid runners by the stallion entering stud in coming years, there is likely to be continued demand for his sons at stud. Ashford will continue to play a major part in the story, as Uncle Mo is very much in his prime at age 13, while the farm also stands his versatile son Mo Town alongside him. Mo Town, a Grade 2 winner on dirt at 2 and a Grade 1 winner on turf at 3, has his first yearlings in 2021.

“We are very fortunate to have a Grade 1-winning son of Uncle Mo at Ashford in Mo Town, whose first weanlings and short yearlings have been incredibly well received by the market,” O’Connor said. “It certainly doesn’t hurt Mo Town that his sire is off to such a solid start as a sire of sires, but the Mo Towns are very good-looking horses in their own right. They have a lot of Uncle Mo about them, they’re athletic, well balanced, and possibly have a touch more quality than the Uncle Mos. He is a stallion we are very excited about.”