Uncle Mo works at the Spa

[jognlope]

He's on target for the King's Bishop 8/27

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8IO3uLd9-E

[classhandicapper]

I'm not sure how many people have been following the work tab and watching Uncle Mo prepare, but I'm not so sure I still want to bet against him in the King's Bishop the way I was planning to.

To me, his first start of 2011 was impossible to decipher because of the extremely slow pace and his race in the Wood was pretty mediocre. So he looked like a great "reputation horse" to play against going forward. It certainly seemed possible (perhaps even likely) that he had made no progress at all from 2 to 3 and would get his butt handled to him in a strong King's Bishop field off the layoff. But IMO he looks so good so far he might actually be able to handle an assignment like that. He'll probably still be an underlay and I'll probably still take a shot against him, but he looks darn good to me. There's no way I'm letting the moths out of my wallet. This season could still get interesting for 3YOs.

[toussaud]

he's just going to have to beat me. he may very well do so. But i just don't see it.

[PaceAdvantage]

I'm not sure how many people have been following the work tab and watching Uncle Mo prepare, but I'm not so sure I still want to bet against him in the King's Bishop the way I was planning to.

To me, his first start of 2011 was impossible to decipher because of the extremely slow pace and his race in the Wood was pretty mediocre. So he looked like a great "reputation horse" to play against going forward. It certainly seemed possible (perhaps even likely) that he had made no progress at all from 2 to 3 and would get his butt handled to him in a strong King's Bishop field off the layoff. But IMO he looks so good so far he might actually be able to handle an assignment like that. He'll probably still be an underlay and I'll probably still take a shot against him, but he looks darn good to me. There's no way I'm letting the moths out of my wallet. This season could still get interesting for 3YOs.I'm making it simple. I'm going to take it at face value that he was sick as a dog for much of this year, which explains his mediocre races.

With that in mind, and taking into account the totally uninspiring way the other 3yos have played out to date, I don't see it as such a crazy idea that Uncle Mo could easily be the Eclipse champion 3yo if he comes back strong and knocks off his elders a few times down the line.

Hell, if he wins the King's Bishop and shows he's back at full strength, he could easily be campaigned in such a way that HOY isn't out of the question at this point.

Do people really have that much confidence in Stay Thirsty to repeat, let alone go on and win some races in the fall? I don't.

It all hinges for Uncle Mo on the King's Bishop.

[Robert Fischer]

he keeps improving


he'll be tough, but I have done zero capping of the KB, and no matter who he faces he'll need a decent trip.

[sonnyp]

can't imagine this race for a come back. he'll have to run his guts out.

[TravisVOX]

If he runs back to his 2-year-old form, the rest are in trouble. That said, this is not an easy race to come back in. It's usually a fast early race, and he'll have to be ready to go.

And yeah, if, a big if, he wins the King's Bishop... he is certainly live in the Horse of the Year Race, but he'd have to some something pretty remarkable from there. Lots of if's for what'll likely be a short price.

[PaceAdvantage]

Lots of if's for what'll likely be a short price.I never said he was worth a bet.

[lamboguy]

those guys are doing everything right these days. if uncle moe isn't at the top of his game you won't see him. when he works in the morning he works with the best horses on the track. its not the same thing as a race, but that program is the next best thing.

[mostpost]

Whether he is worth a bet will depend on the odds, but I certainly would not bet against him. Agree with PA that the illness was the reason for the early season troubles. The two bullet works are even more impressive because Pletcher is not known for working his horses fast. I would like to see Uncle Mo's final work be five furlongs in under a minute.

[TravisVOX]

I never said he was worth a bet.

Oh I know, I wasn't saying anything directly to what you said, just in general.

[Spalding No!]

Meanwhile Flashpoint, Indiano, Caleb's Posse, J P's Gusto, The Factor, Saddleranch, Justin Phillip, and Dominus are also training steadily, presumably for the King's Bishop. J J's Lucky Train hasn't worked back yet, but he's a contender if he goes. Indiano is not nominated for some reason.

If Kiaran McLaughlin has learned anything from the plight of Trappe Shot (or watched Caleb's Posse's cutback success), he'll call an audible and target his very marginal Travers contender, Rattlesnake Bridge, to this race. Of course, he's not nominated I guess he can second guess himself at a later date.

On the west coast, John Sadler has an interesting candidate, Runflatout, who's been tearing up the track in the a.m. He'll probably show up in the El Cajon at Del Mar but perhaps West Point's addiction to the limelight will overrule the trainer.

[Pensacola Pete]

I remember King's Bishop. Top sprinter. Held the track record at Belmont at 7f for many years.

[papillon]

the factor just worked 6 f in 1:10.80 and flashpoint (confirmed for the king's bishop), whose sire pomeroy won the king's bishop, last worked 5f in 58.60 (BTW pomeroy holds one of the fastest (if not the fastest) times ever run in the king's bishop: 1.20 4/5). fwiw, i don't think he's nominated, but runflatout worked 6 f in 1:11.80.

i don't get the love affair with uncle mo tbh--i'm glad that he seems to have recovered from his illness and i welcome him back to racing, but even if he wins the king's bishop, there is no way he deserves to be the 3 year old champ or hoty--it'll take a whole lot more than winning one 7 furlong sprint in my book to merit even the press he is getting right now, let alone an eclipse award, and there just aren't that many races left in the year for him to make up for lost time.

his breeding has always made him questionable at 1 1/4, so even a top flight mo would have been questionable, just like a top flight quality road, for the jcgc and the breeder's cup; however, mo isn't top flight, he's been benched for most of the year and very ill--i think it would have been better to treat him like blame: sideline him until the clark, then bring him back as a 4 year old, aiming for hoty.

to the person who said caixa eletronica is good horse...since when? 5 wins out of 20 tries is a good horse now? and no wins against the class of his generation? CE is an ok horse, but mo is supposed to be the best horse ever, besting CE should be expected, not cheered as proof that he is the second coming of [insert whichever horse you believe is the best ever here].

if mo wins, i'll be happy for the horse, though i have no use for his loud mouth owner. however, all the pro-mo propaganda smacks of desperation to me. i would have more faith that mo was truely a threat and really back to his 2 year old form, if they were progressing him along quietly, just as baffert is doing with the factor: train him quietly, then wow us on the track in a race. i seem to recall the last time we got "all mo, all the time", he was half-dead from liver disease and was scratched from the biggest race of the year just before it was to happen...just sayin'...

anywho, if all it takes is a 7 furlong sprint now to win best 3 y old or hoty, somebody call dale romans quick and tell him to supplement shackleford, i'd be pretty terrified to face shack at 7 furlongs (way more than facing him at a mile and quarter that's for sure-and i love that horse). and hey, until pomeroy's race, shack's sire forestry had the fastest time in the king's bishop (1:21), so a race between flashpoint and shackleford in the king's bishop would be interesting history and breeding-wise--the sons of the two fastest times competing for bragging rights, sunday, sunday, sunday...(or saturday as the case may be :D )

[Spalding No!]

Runflatout is nominated to the race.

[PaceAdvantage]

i don't get the love affair with uncle mo tbh--i'm glad that he seems to have recovered from his illness and i welcome him back to racing, but even if he wins the king's bishop, there is no way he deserves to be the 3 year old champ or hoty--it'll take a whole lot more than winning one 7 furlong sprint in my book to merit even the press he is getting right now, let alone an eclipse award, and there just aren't that many races left in the year for him to make up for lost time.Yeah, no kidding.

However, there ARE many races left, especially in THIS type of year, where NOBODY is a strong favorite for year-end honors in either the 3yo division or HOY in general.

[nijinski]

Papillon , I gather the " pro mo propaganda " you are referring to are his social
networking posts. It doesn't seem "desparate" to me , it looks like it's all in fun. Even if some of the posts and replies are silly , they can't hurt the sport.
.
Mo has a fan base that was really pulling for him when he was ill and lord
knows the sport can use all the exposure that's available out there .I've shown his page to childrem in the family and they want to see him run. They
love his name and his story and they're amused that someone put a voice
to it and my hopes are that someday they will come back to the track when they are older and become permanent fans. We all started somewhere .

In the end I hope Mo stays healthy and of course I'd love to see him win .I have to say though that he looks fantastic now and I'm happy that that Repole got him the the proper care he needed , I know some here don't like him but I happen to be a fan of the Mo Crew .

[classhandicapper]

I don't think there's a "love affair" with Uncle Mo. I think serious fans get excited about any horse that shows the potential to be great. I wasn't a huge Mo fan after his first two starts. He caught an extremely biased track in his debut and a very weak Champagne in his second start. So to me he looked like any other good prospect from the Pletcher barn. However, IMO his Juvenile was awesome. So I think some people are hoping that wasn't the fluke race and he can develop into a top horse even though everything surrounding that race so far hasn't demonstrated anything "special".

[mostpost]

Whether he is worth a bet will depend on the odds, but I certainly would not bet against him. Agree with PA that the illness was the reason for the early season troubles. The two bullet works are even more impressive because Pletcher is not known for working his horses fast. I would like to see Uncle Mo's final work be five furlongs in under a minute.
59:95 for five furlongs this morning, third bullet work in a row. He is ready. Of course winning the King's Bishop on Saturday won't make Uncle Mo Horse of the Year or even top three year old. Winning the King's Bishop and following that up with victories in the Gold Cup and Breeders Cup Classic will.

[classhandicapper]

I'm really hoping "The Factor" shows up. It will add a lot of excitement to the race for me because either could run a huge race (or disappoint badly).

[papillon]

Yeah, no kidding.

However, there ARE many races left, especially in THIS type of year, where NOBODY is a strong favorite for year-end honors in either the 3yo division or HOY in general.

i think we can safely assume he's not going to race in california this year, so there are really only two races left for him to earn an eclipse in after the king's bishop--the jcgc and the bcc, both at 1 1/4. mo's an indian charlie, and even as a champion 2 year-old there were legit questions as to whether he would ever be able to get 1 1/4.

i can think of three horses off the top of my head, who are way ahead of mo in the HOTY race right now: tizway, blind luck, and hdg

tizway has already won two major races this year, so mo's already in the hole against him, and would not only have to win a major route race to do it, but would also likely have to beat tizway in the process to deserve the HOTY title over him. and if blind luck wins the pacific classic and/or HDG wins the woodward, mo is going to have a hell of time wrenching HOTY from either filly, considering how consistent they have been all year-- and i like blind luck's chances at a 1 1/4 in the bcc way more than i like mo's, or even tizway's tbh.

in the 3 YOY race, it would be travesty if it went to mo--he will have only raced in one of the notable three year old races and have only up come in 3rd in that race to boot. whereas, shack will have raced in every one of the major 3 year old races this year (when was the last time that happened? seriously?), and will, at the very least, have won one of them and have placed in another of them. i understand the arguments for several other horses besides shack being 3 YOY, but i do not understand a single argument for mo being 3 YOY over shack.

i do not dislike mo, i would love for him to return to the top of the sport. but the dream for him to dominate this year is most likely over (which is why i said i think the better path would have been to have to let 2011 go and focus on HOTY 2012). but even if he wins the king's bishop, you can't extrapolate a 7 furlong win to being the favorite at 1 1/4.

so i just don't see how he merits discussion for an eclipse at this point in the game (or even next january, unless he wins both the jcgc and the bcc, which seems improbable, even in the best of circumstances).

plus, if they keep him at sprints, do you really think he's going to beat an experienced specialist like big drama this year? i'm not even convinced he can beat flashpoint and the factor. if he dominates for the rest of the year in sprints, is that enough to merit 3 YOY or HOTY? has a 3 YO sprinter ever been chosen over the derby winner for 3 YOY, or over the BCC winner for HOTY?

nijinsky--i respect your appreciation of mo, but i respectfully disagree that he is pulling in casual followers to our sport. it is very hard for non-triple crown horses to do that, and right now, most average americans know of animal kingdom and shackleford, and that's about it. most don't even remember ROI's name. i haven't met one who knows or cares about mo. that isn't a knock on mo--it's just reality. shack may not win an eclipse this year, but something tells me he's a shoe-in at this point for penny chenery's popularity contest award.

the pro-mo propaganda i was referring to was the fact that he is brought up incessantly by the nbc/vs broadcast team and his every move is highlighted on bloodhorse and drf. yet he has nothing to deserve the attention. after the tawdry way his human handlers dealt with his illness and the ky derby last spring, it would be better in my book for them to let mo go quietly about his business and wait to blow their trumpets until after he has actually won a notable race against quality opponents this year (i do not count the timely writer on either count).

[sonnyp]

after the tawdry way his human handlers dealt with his illness and the ky derby last spring, it would be better in my book for them to let mo go quietly about his business and wait to blow their trumpets until after he has actually won a notable race against quality opponents this year (i do not count the timely writer on either count).


couldn't agree more. repole is repulsive.

[outofthebox]

I'm really hoping "The Factor" shows up. It will add a lot of excitement to the race for me because either could run a huge race (or disappoint badly).According to TVG, Baffert gearing The Factor up for the Pat O'Brien next week at Del Mar. Citing the weather and deep Saratoga track as main reason for choosing Del Mar.

[Relwob Owner]

after the tawdry way his human handlers dealt with his illness and the ky derby last spring, it would be better in my book for them to let mo go quietly about his business and wait to blow their trumpets until after he has actually won a notable race against quality opponents this year (i do not count the timely writer on either count).


couldn't agree more. repole is repulsive.


This is way over the top IMO. He has done and said some things that I would take issue with. He also says some things that I think are really progressive and forward thinking and I think racing needs that from an owner in his position. Aside from that, he contributes a ton of money to the game and I think the game needs people like him now and in the future.

[sonnyp]

This is way over the top IMO. He has done and said some things that I would take issue with. He also says some things that I think are really progressive and forward thinking and I think racing needs that from an owner in his position. Aside from that, he contributes a ton of money to the game and I think the game needs people like him now and in the future.


the same was said about iavarone and his IEAH crew

[Reezy]

I like flashpoint over mo, factor, or anybody else in the race

[toussaud]

i like calebs posse over all them at a price. they finally figured out what the horse wants to do IMHO

[Producer]

the same was said about iavarone and his IEAH crew


Difference is Repole is spending his own money and has more of it to spend than IEAH and Iavarone could ever dream of.

If he wants to be outspoken, that's his choice. You always seem to have issue with the younger outspoken owners in the game (or just owners in general). It's the owner's money being spent, why should they sit back and allow the trainer to make all the decisions or be the only ones that say anything regarding their horses?

[sonnyp]

Difference is Repole is spending his own money and has more of it to spend than IEAH and Iavarone could ever dream of.

If he wants to be outspoken, that's his choice. You always seem to have issue with the younger outspoken owners in the game (or just owners in general). It's the owner's money being spent, why should they sit back and allow the trainer to make all the decisions or be the only ones that say anything regarding their horses?

you're right. i have a problem with owners. that's why i got out.

[NYPlayer]

... if he wins the King's Bishop and shows he's back at full strength, he could easily be campaigned in such a way that HOY isn't out of the question at this point.

Do people really have that much confidence in Stay Thirsty to repeat, let alone go on and win some races in the fall? I don't...

If Pletcher was confident in UM, why wouldn't he have entered UM for Saratoga's biggest race, the Travers? Why put the horse in a sprint? I don't think he's gone less than a mile since his maiden win.

[classhandicapper]

If Pletcher was confident in UM, why wouldn't he have entered UM for Saratoga's biggest race, the Travers? Why put the horse in a sprint? I don't think he's gone less than a mile since his maiden win.

The Travers would have been an almost impossible race to restart a campaign given his experience. If anything, the King's Bishop is kind of a tough place to start.

The real question is what are they going to do with win or lose after the Kings Bishop.

[point given]

If Pletcher was confident in UM, why wouldn't he have entered UM for Saratoga's biggest race, the Travers? Why put the horse in a sprint? I don't think he's gone less than a mile since his maiden win.

And why don't builders put up skyscrspers without putting in a foundation to support it ? R U for real ? Or maybe you should run a marathon a couple of monthes after being layed up from a medical condition. Shee:rolleyes: sh

[cj]

The Travers would have been an almost impossible race to restart a campaign given his experience. If anything, the King's Bishop is kind of a tough place to start.

The real question is what are they going to do with win or lose after the Kings Bishop.

It makes what Bellamy Road did running a close 2nd pretty impressive when you think about it.

[TravisVOX]

It makes what Bellamy Road did running a close 2nd pretty impressive when you think about it.

One of the best Travers performances in the last decade or so... and is often very underrated.

[outofthebox]

One of the best Travers performances in the last decade or so... and is often very underrated.Agree. He was much further along in his training than Mo at this time. And this is the race that did him in for good, never to run again.

[sonnyp]

d-CG98mjMAg

[sammy the sage]

those guys are doing everything right these days. if uncle moe isn't at the top of his game you won't see him. when he works in the morning he works with the best horses on the track. its not the same thing as a race, but that program is the next best thing.

Not EXACTLY true...heck they even sent out a horse w/breathing problems today...ain't saying which one or where...but THEY did...

Life at TEN tells the STORY about THIS crew....

[NYPlayer]

It makes what Bellamy Road did running a close 2nd pretty impressive when you think about it.

I liked Flower Alley in that race. Part of the reason for betting against Bellamy Road was the layoff, but it wasn't so much the time off as the reason for the layoff and his overall pattern. Discussed at length here:

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?p=221273&highlight=flower+alley#post221273

[NYPlayer]

The Travers would have been an almost impossible race to restart a campaign given his experience. If anything, the King's Bishop is kind of a tough place to start.

The real question is what are they going to do with win or lose after the Kings Bishop.

It's only three furlongs more than the Kings Bishop. He's supposed to be the best of his generation. If Pletcher sees this more as a test or prep, I'm inclined to bet that way.

[Stillriledup]

Whether he is worth a bet will depend on the odds, but I certainly would not bet against him. Agree with PA that the illness was the reason for the early season troubles. The two bullet works are even more impressive because Pletcher is not known for working his horses fast. I would like to see Uncle Mo's final work be five furlongs in under a minute.

It doesnt depend on the odds because by definition, he will be overbet. Famous horses get overbet, he's a famous horse, people know him and his name, so therefore,whatever odds he is on that toteboard, its lower than his actual chances.

he might run off and crush and make all the people who bet against feel silly, but long run winning players don't bet on 'name' horses all that often, if ever.

Horses like this should be on your 'fade radar' from day 1. let a horse like this beat you, its a lot more fun to bet against this horse than to take 4-5 on him.

[Valuist]

It doesnt depend on the odds because by definition, he will be overbet. Famous horses get overbet, he's a famous horse, people know him and his name, so therefore,whatever odds he is on that toteboard, its lower than his actual chances.

he might run off and crush and make all the people who bet against feel silly, but long run winning players don't bet on 'name' horses all that often, if ever.

Horses like this should be on your 'fade radar' from day 1. let a horse like this beat you, its a lot more fun to bet against this horse than to take 4-5 on him.

:ThmbUp:

These hype horses make for great betting opportunities. Several other logical horses will be value.