Will Uncle Mo Be A ‘Go’ In The Kentucky Derby?

Added on Apr 23, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Horse Racing

Frank Sinatra once sung of ‘riding high in April, shot down in May’. The months might not exactly match, but that’s a similar trajectory taken by one time Kentucky Derby favorite Uncle Mo. The 2010 Breeder’s Cup Juvenile winner has been the de facto Kentucky Derby favorite ever since his victory in that race. He’s spent most of 2011 as the actual favorite, first in the futures markets of Nevada and offshore sportsbooks and more recently in the official Kentucky Derby futures wager at Churchill Downs. Now after a disappointing run in the Wood Memorial and questions about his fitness he’s not even a sure thing to race in the Kentucky Derby at all.

At this point, Uncle Mo’s trainer Todd Pletcher sounds as if he’s leaning against running him in the Derby saying that he “”needs to have a good 19 days” if he’s going to enter the race. Pletcher insisted that Mo is “doing very well” but that he’s got to be certain he’s 100% if he’s going to run in the Kentucky Derby.

Uncle Mo finished third in the Wood Memorial as a 1-9 posttime favorite. During the race everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. For starters, video shows that Uncle Mo tore off a piece off his hoof immediately after the start of the race. By horse racing standards it isn’t particularly significant—trainer Pletcher described it as being ‘the size of a quarter’ –but definitely looked painful.

After the race, Uncle Mo underwent a series of blood tests which revealed that he was suffering from a gastrointestinal infection. That revelation has changed the dynamic of the Kentucky Derby, however, and it’ll now be a wide open competition heading in rather than a race with an overwhelming favorite in Uncle Mo and a group of longshots looking to spoil his coronation. According to Pletcher and owner Mike Repole, Uncle Mo would have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s “100 percent” if he’s going to take on the Kentucky Derby field. If that’s not the case, the likely scenario assuming that no additional physical problems manifest themselves would be to slow down the timetable somewhat and shoot for a start in the Preakness or Belmont Stakes later this summer.