Uncle Mo Mania Rages through Middle America
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Zipse’s Kentucky Derby Daily – Day 50
Think Uncle
Mo Mania is a phenomenon that can only be found in racing’s hotbeds? Think again!
Just look what’s happening in Quad Cities, Iowa…
Horse
Racing Nation asked the community for a video cheering Uncle Mo onto victory in
his three-year-old debut, the Timely Writer Stakes at Gulfstream Park last
Saturday. The video judged to be the best would win a $250 future pool wager on
Uncle Mo for the 2011 Kentucky Derby. We are proud to announce that the video
sent in by Andrew Demsky and Elliot Sweitzer has been chosen winner of the Show Us Your Uncle Mo-Jo Video Contest.
Andrew
became a big fan of racing in the last few years after finally relenting to his
grandfather’s passion for the game.
“He’s been
following the game for 50 or 60 years,” according to the contest winner.
Falling in
love for racing also came easier for Andrew when he moved back to Long Island,
a short drive from Belmont and Aqueduct, giving him easy access to get to the
track. He has been to all the New York tracks, and although he moved last fall to
Iowa to take a position with the single A baseball team, the Quad City River
Bandits, he remains a passionate fan of racing.
As far as
Uncle Mo, Andrew likes his chances for Kentucky Derby glory, but he would like
to see him face some tougher competition in the Wood Memorial to get him ready
for the Derby. The fact that Uncle Mo adorns blue and orange silks, like his
beloved Mets, and that owner Mike Repole is a St. Johns grad like his father,
helped him happily jump on the Uncle Mo bandwagon. He rates Mucho Macho Man and
Soldat as the two other colts with a big chance to win on the First Saturday in
May.
When I
asked him if he will make the trip back home for the Wood, he replied, “I would
love to, but my work will keep me in Iowa. I will make sure my father and
brother are there though, and taking plenty of pictures.”
A regular
reader of Horse Racing Nation, “I love all the past performance information, I
can find there,” Andrew plans to be watching the Wood Memorial from Iowa with Elliot.
Let’s hope he has video camera on again, because watching Elliot “go a little
nuts” for Uncle Mo is almost as much fun as watching the race itself.
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