Heroes of Churchill Downs: Uncle Mo

Feb 07, 2025 Sara Dacus/TwinSpires.com

The first time Uncle Mo set foot on a racetrack, he made a deep impression. The two-year-old won his career debut on the 2010 Travers S. (G1) undercard—a six furlong race—by 14 1/4 lengths, leading every step of the way and picking up speed in the final quarter. In his next start, he posted the second-fastest time recorded in Champagne S. (G1), giving owner Mike Repole his first graded stakes win.

He came into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) as the overwhelming favorite. That year, the championship event was held at Churchill Downs. The sky seemed to be the limit for his young career, but his finest on-track moment may have come that day under the Twin Spires. The bay colt pulled away to easily win by 4 1/4 lengths, securing the Eclipse Award as the champion two-year-old male.

Uncle Mo made his three-year-old debut in the Timely Writer S. at Gulfstream Park. In retrospect, it seems eerily prophetic that the race was named for a colt who was a winter favorite for the 1982 Kentucky Derby (G1) and who won the Florida Derby (G1) but missed the Triple Crown due to an intestinal ailment. In this race, Uncle Mo again cruised to an easy victory, leading at every point of call.

He topped most lists as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, and the Wood Memorial (G1) was his final prep race. The 1-9 favorite finished third, shocking the racing world and shaking up the Kentucky Derby picture. Because of this upset, Florida Derby winner Dialed In gained the favorite status, and Uncle Mo was the second choice on the morning line.

But in the days after his first loss, Uncle Mo was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal infection, and he never regained his peak form. The day before the Kentucky Derby, Repole and Pletcher made the decision to scratch him from the race. John Velazquez, who rode the bay horse in every start of his career, picked up the mount on Animal Kingdom, a longshot at 30-1 on the morning line. Animal Kingdom won.

Uncle Mo’s highly-anticipated return to racing came in the King’s Bishop S. (G1) on the Travers undercard. He lost by a nose. In his next start, he beat three other horses in the Kelso S. (G2), punching his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), held at Churchill Downs. In this year-end championship race, he finished a disappointing 10th. The day after the Classic, a test showed that one of his enzymes was elevated, and his connections made the decision to retire him from racing.

But as exciting as his two-year-old season was, his career as a stallion ended up being even more electrifying. He went to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud and became the leading freshman sire of 2015, setting records for progeny earnings (that has since been passed by Gun Runner). Nyquist, the champion two-year-old male of 2015 and the 2016 Kentucky Derby winner, topped his first crop.

His brilliance continued in the breeding shed. He was the leading second-crop sire in 2016 and was among the leading sires overall for the first of five times to date. He reached the milestone of furnishing 100 stakes winners faster than any other predominantly dirt sire.

In December, Uncle Mo suffered an injury to his left front foreleg. He was euthanized at age 16.

'Uncle Mo was so much more to me than a champion and iconic stallion -- he was and always will be a part of my family,' Repole said. 'Uncle Mo is the patriarch of Repole Stable. There will never be another horse that makes me feel or will impact my life the way that Uncle Mo has.'