NEWS
Pletcher plans path to Kentucky Derby for Uncle Mo
Posted: Sunday, November 07, 2010 2:24 PM
UNCLE MO
PhotosByZ.com/Thoroughbred Times
by Ed DeRosa
Todd Pletcher was still relishing Uncle Mo’s scintillating performance in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on Sunday morning, but the Eclipse Award-winning trainer also was already thinking about the next step.
Pletcher’s next task with Mike Repole’s undefeated Indian Charlie colt is to keep the momentum going to the 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1), which is exactly six months from Sunday.
Uncle Mo will ship to South Florida by the end of the week and maintain a very light training regimen for the rest of the year before preparing for a three-year-old campaign. Pletcher envisions two prep races ahead of the Derby, a one-turn race for the colt’s three-year-old debut followed most likely by the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct.
“Ideally, I’d like to start him back in a one-turn mile, but we might have to look at something seven-eighths depending on how the schedule falls,” Pletcher said.
Pletcher won his first Kentucky Derby this year with Super Saver, but he said he has never in his career had a horse this impressive at this stage.
“Uncle Mo exceeded my expectations in the Breeders’ Cup,” Pletcher said. “His two-year-old year has been as good as any other two-year-old’s. Maybe some have been more accomplished, won more races, but [Uncle Mo] has been as impressive in his three races as any two-year-old I’ve seen.”
Pletcher also won both Breeders’ Cup events for two-year-olds on the turf during the two-day event. He said Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G2) winner Pluck could try a synthetic surface next year as a bridge toward a potential Derby run. The Pletcher-trained More Than Real took the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G2) on Friday.
Ed DeRosa is news editor of Thoroughbred Times
