If Not Uncle Mo, Then Who?
{{monthName}} {{day}}, {{year}} {{hour12}}:{{minuteTwoDigit}}{{dayPeriod}}
Zipse’s
Kentucky Derby Daily – Day 43
"Uncle
Mo is the most impressive young horse I have seen since Spectacular Bid came
along in 1978." Yes, you guessed it, the quote was made by yours truly. I
am reminded of it every day on the front page of HRN. I am also on record as
saying he is the closest thing I have seen to Seattle Slew since the great
horse became the only undefeated winner of the Triple Crown. Since the heyday
of the seventies, fans have learned to become more than a little skeptical of
ever seeing another Triple Crown winner. The sentiment is completely
understandable. It has been a long time.
I have
heard all of the arguments …
The way
horses are trained today, a Triple Crown winner is a thing of the past.
Uncle Mo
doesn’t get enough distance breeding from his sire Indian Charlie.
Only 1 out
of 26 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winners have come back to win the Derby (although
the only other recent BC Juvenile winner at Churchill Downs, Street Sense, did
come back to complete the double.)
Two easy
races before Louisville is not enough to have him ready for the rigors of the
series.
Even if he
can win the Derby and Preakness, 1 ½ miles of the Belmont will be too much for
him.
An 89 Beyer
in his first race this year leaves too much improvement needed before the Derby.
I could go
on. Some of these have more merit than others, but all of them are possible reasons
why Uncle Mo will not win the Triple Crown, or even the Kentucky Derby. To all
of those reasons I respond; the special ones find a way to overcome.
I believe I am in the minority, at least from reading the comments I receive, in believing that Mo can do it, but I am enough of a realist to know that the odds are stacked against him. I am an optomist, but not naive. I realize winning the 2011 Kentucky Derby will be far from easy, and the Preakness and the Belmont after that, even tougher.
I believe I am in the minority, at least from reading the comments I receive, in believing that Mo can do it, but I am enough of a realist to know that the odds are stacked against him. I am an optomist, but not naive. I realize winning the 2011 Kentucky Derby will be far from easy, and the Preakness and the Belmont after that, even tougher.
If any or
all of these factors do conspire to foil Uncle Mo as he attempts to become an
undefeated Kentucky Derby champion, then who? Who will step up and snatch the
mantle away from the Repole star?
There are a
lot of good candidates out there who have captured our attention this spring,
and we certainly will learn a lot more from races like the Louisiana, Florida,
Santa Anita, and Arkansas Derbies, but to me only one horse has already run the
kind of race good enough to defeat the champ. The race was the San Felipe, and
the horse is Premier Pegasus.
I am
confident the son of Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus would have beaten any
three-year-old in the land in the San Felipe, save Uncle Mo, and this in his
initial try around two-turns. It was a breakout performance, and I expect more
of the same in the Santa Anita Derby.
If all of
you that tell me Mo can’t do it, turn out to be right, I say look no further
than PrePeg as the horse that will wear the roses on the first Saturday in May.
Read More
That Breeders' Cup hangover hits different when you realize racing never takes a breath. Seven graded stakes across...
This is how horses across the Breeders' Cup races including Forever Young , Scylla and more came out...
History will be made on Monday night when the Bill Mott-trained Parchment Party and hall of fame jockey...
Magnitude , the impressive Grade 2 Risen Star winner who most recently finished second behind Baeza in the...
Bishops Bay earned the fastest Horse Racing Nation speed figure on Sunday, a 135, for his game three-quarter-length...