Derby Pedigrees: Un Ojo is living up to his breeding

Un Ojo solidified his 2022 Kentucky Derby dreams with a half-length victory in the Rebel Stakes (G2) over Ethereal Road, who nosed out the late-charging Barber Road. Un Ojo stopped the clock in 1:45 3/5  for 1 1/16 miles over a wet-fast track.

Un Ojo (Laoban - Risk a Chance, by A.P. Indy), Spanish for "an eye," lost an eye in a paddock incident as a foal. The one-eyed wonder previously racked up a pair of second-place finishes in the Withers (G3) and New York Stallion Series Stakes and has 54 Derby qualifying points.

With his Rebel victory, Un Ojo gifted trainer Ricky Courville the first graded stakes win of his career. Courville trained the gelding for his first three starts before Un Ojo shipped to the New York barn of Tony Dutrow. Courville took over duties again for the Rebel. Un Ojo owns two wins and two second-place finishes in seven starts with $782,571 in earnings.

Southern Equine Stables bred this son of Laoban and Un Ojo races in the green and white silks of Cypress Creek Equine LLC.

Un Ojo's sire Laoban (Uncle Mo - Chattertown, by Speightstown) was a maiden for most of his career yet competed in seven graded stakes. His sole victory came in the 2016 Jim Dandy (G2) at 27-1. He also placed in the Sham (G3) and Gotham (G3).

Laoban retired because of a soft tissue injury at the end of his 3-year-old season with a 9: 1-2-1 ($526,250) tally. He began his stud career at Sequel Stallions in New York for a $7,500 fee.

A member of a classy family that includes multiple Grade 1 winner and multi-millionaire I'm a Chatterbox, Laoban quickly set about siring classy performers. His stakes-winning offspring Simply Ravishing, a 6 1/4 length runaway winner of the Alcibiades Stakes (G1), Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) winner Keepmeinmind, and several listed winners ensured Laoban became the second-leading first-crop sire.

WinStar Farm in Kentucky snapped up Laoban for his second year at stud. Sadly, the aspiring young stallion died last May. He has a phenomenal 53 winners, 10 of them stakes winners, from 95 starters.

So far, none of Laoban's offspring have won beyond 1 1/8 miles, although one finished third at 1 3/16 miles in a stakes race in Puerto Rico.

Un Ojo has a well-bred, stakes-filled distaff line with roots in the famed Elmendorf Farm and Chester and Mary Broman breeding programs.

A fourth foal, the gelding is the first black-type earner out of the multiple stakes-placed miler Risk a Chance (A.P. Indy - Seeking the Ante, by Seeking the Gold).

The class starts with Un Ojo's fourth dam, the Argentine-bred mare, Auspiciante (by Practicante). Multiple group-placed in her native land, she was part of hall-of-fame trainer Ron McAnally's program of importing mares from South America. While racing in the U.S., Auspiciante earned victories in the Ramona Handicap (G1), Matriarch Invitational (G1) and the Beverly Hills Handicap (G2).

Auspiciante reproduced herself through her daughter, the millionaire Antespend, who was her sire Kentucky Derby hero Spend a Buck's sole Grade 1 winner in 16 U.S. crops. Antespend competed against the best mares of her generation, twice beating the champion mare Hidden Lake in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and Las Virgenes (G1) and finishing second to champion Escena in the Fantasy (G2).

Antespend passed along her classy genes to Un Ojo's second dam, Seeking the Ante (Seeking the Gold). The mare won or placed in 10 of 16 starts, including a victory in the seven-furlong Nassau County Breeders' Cup Stakes (G2) and runner-up placings in the Comely (G2) and Top Flight Handicap (G2), both at a mile.

Besides Risk a Chance, Seeking the Ante also bore Mineralogist (Mineshaft), a multiple stakes winner in New York, and successful from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles. Mineralogist's son, the solid veteran of 20 starts, Can You Diggit (Tiznow), won the Evan Shipman Stakes and was multiple restricted stakes-placed at 1 1/8 miles.

Kentucky Derby contender or pretender?

There is a long history of Rebel Stakes contenders making their mark on the Triple Crown races. Three, including Triple Crown champ American Pharoah (2015), Sunny's Halo (1983) and Smarty Jones (2004), won the Kentucky Derby.

That being said, only five Rebel winners since 2010 made it to the Kentucky Derby. However, recent Rebel winners fared better in Maryland. Four contested the Preakness, with two winners, and last year, Concert Tour finished third.

Un Ojo has the pedigree and conformation of a route horse. He stretches out with good leg extension and no wasted movement, such as high knee action or paddling. He's professional, switching leads and keeping a straight path. But Un Ojo is a steady, one-paced sort without actual speed.

Draw a line through Un Ojo's Arkansas Derby mishap. One-paced grinder types rarely win the Derby unless they can close into a hot pace. Many a one-paced bomb has messed up the exotics, hitting the second through fourth positions.