Uncle Sigh sold, transferred to Mott

ELMONT, N.Y. – Uncle Sigh, who placed in multiple graded stakes last year at 3, has been purchased by a group headed by Adam Wachtel and will be transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

The sale was finalized Friday morning, which necessitated the colt being scratched from a first-level allowance race for New York-breds on Friday’s Belmont Park card.

Uncle Sigh was owned by Chuck McEwen’s Wounded Warrior Stable and trained by Gary Contessa. Earlier this year, McEwen suffered a stroke, and his stable is being dispersed.

At 3, Uncle Sigh finished second to fellow New York-bred Samraat in the Withers and Gotham stakes – both Grade 3 events on Aqueduct’s inner track – before running fifth in the Wood Memorial and 14th in the Kentucky Derby. He didn’t run again until this summer, finishing second and then fifth in first-level allowance races at Saratoga, both as an odds-on favorite.

“He’s a pretty talented horse,” Wachtel said. “His last race stunk, but his race off the layoff was good. There’s some talent there, and he still has his New York-bred conditions.”