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00:00Uncle Mo turns 15 this year, and after siring a Belmont winner in Mo Donegal in 2022, he
00:08looks to be on track for another strong season in the Classics this year.
00:12His son Arabian Night is currently ranked number one in the TDN's Derby Rankings,
00:17and another son, Scooby Kwando, just won the Turfway Preview Stakes on debut.
00:22We talked to Uncle Mo's connections at Ashford Stud about his fast start in 2023.
00:28He's done an incredible run.
00:29Uncle Mo is now 15.
00:31He's been with us at Ashford Stud now for all of his studying career.
00:34We're privileged to have him.
00:35He's been a horse that obviously, as a racehorse, left no one in any doubt how good he was when
00:39trained by Traub Pletcher for Rappoli Stable, being a champion two-year-old.
00:43He's imparted a lot of that precocity on his stock, but his run continues to flourish.
00:50Last year, you look at the great depth and breadth of winners he had, siring a Belmont
00:56Stakes winner in Mo Donegal, and also a very fast champion sprinter-elect, certainly on
01:02the turf in Golden Powell.
01:04So I think the horse is definitely going from strength to strength.
01:07Every single year, he has horses running in all the best races, but the great thing is
01:12they do it short, long, dirt, turf, in this country and all around the Northern Hemisphere.
01:19So often, the concentration is placed on breeding to young stallions, new stallions that are
01:26being recently retired.
01:28Very few, if any, stallions have succeeded like Uncle Mo from beginning to the current time.
01:34He started out with a Derby winner in his very first crop, Nyquist.
01:39He has continued year after year with Stakes winners of all kinds.
01:45So Arabian Night is obviously very much at the forefront of everyone's imagination, being
01:49at the top of the TDN's leading Derby contenders for 2023.
01:53He made a much-anticipated debut here on the Breeders' Cup undercard at Keeneland, and
01:59was a highly, highly professional and brilliant winner of his maiden race.
02:04But well behind Arabian Night, 16th pole, Arabian Night, John Velasquez, to get things
02:09started on Saturday at Breeders' Cup at Keeneland.
02:13The thing about Uncle Mo's stud is that he's always been sought after.
02:17He's an exceptional runner, exceptionally good-looking horse.
02:21He's covered great mares, and from the very, very start, having Nyquist as a Breeders'
02:24Cup Juvenile winner, and then going on to be a Kentucky Derby winner, that really propelled
02:28him into the upper echelons of the sport in terms of being a stallion.
02:31He's never had a down year, and in terms of a sure bet, Uncle Mo might be the closest
02:36thing there is to it.
02:38But he doesn't just get classic horses, he gets horses with speed, like Yopan and Golden
02:43Pal, two of the fastest horses of recent generations.
02:47And just as recently as last week, he had a first-time starter win a stake at Turfway.
02:53So I think people should realize that while there's an excitement and a buzz about young
03:00stallions, you have a greater chance to succeed with a proven stallion like Uncle Mo.
03:06He gets success both on dirt and turf, and he's becoming really a huge influence because
03:11he's such an outcross for virtually every bloodline there is.
03:15So yeah, the future is very bright, hopefully, throughout this classic season for Uncle Mo.