Another brilliant discussion about Uncle Mo's pedigree weaknesses on TVG today. A lot more dopey jibberish about how his pedigree is so precocious and how 10fs might do him in ... and Favorite Trick was inevitably the comparison that was being used.
Uncle Mo's Dam:
She was about as precocious as Zenyatta. She didn't even debut until November of her 3yo season. They thought so much about her sprinting ability - that they never even attempted to start her in a sprint. She was so naturally speed crazy - that she rated in 7th and circled the field on the turn for an 11/1 upset win. Interestingly, she was a better horse on turf. Her only lifetime turf defeat coming in a decent little stake with a mind-bogglingly horrid ROI jockey up.
Uncle Mo's Dam Sire:
ARCH
Sire of notoriously precocious sprinters such as Blame and Pine Island.
Arch dazzled the racing world in his only start as a 2-year-old - winning like a promising sprinter with a 69 Beyer. Arch was a Grade 1 winner at 10fs. Faced a truly great collection of competition in the BC Classic and was mopped up on a strong pace.
Uncle Mo's sire:
Sire of the notoriously precocious Fleet Indian ... who only improved about a city block or so when transferred to Pletcher later on in her career. Fleet Indian was a Grade 1 winner at 10fs.
Indian Charlie drubbed Real Quiet at 9fs in stakes record time. His only blemish a 3rd in the Kentucky Derby in a race he exited with a career ending injury. Breed a sprinting mare to Indian Charlie and you tend to get a sprinter. Breed a routing mare you tend to get a router. Breed a turf mare and a lot of times you'll get a turf horse. What you don't seem to get a whole lot of from Indian Charlie is durability and toughness. They can be fragile physically.
Indian Charlie's sire: IN EXCESS:
I believe he still holds the track record for 10fs at Belmont Park ... he had very bad feet and struggled in a bar shoe later on in his career ... but he developed into an excellent older male - and had a great Summer of '91 before his physical problems caught up.
All in all - everywhere you look - this pedigree favors routing over sprinting. It favors development after age 2 over extreme precocity. It's a very refreshing pedigree in that there is no Mr. Prospector and no Storm Cat anywhere.
Favorite Trick's sire Phone Trick is one of the most brilliant sprinters in horse racing history. He would routinely run Beyer's in the 120's at 6fs and I believe once ran a 128. Mandella never even attempted to run Phone Trick beyond 7fs - and he tries to stretch everything out. Favorite Trick's dam sire was a precocious sprinter/miler.
And War Pass? That's Breeders Cup Sprint winner Cherokee Run out of a Mr. Prospector mare. War Pass was a half to Oath - who won a Grade 1 stakes at age 2 in the summer - and than sh!t the bed.
Sure, Uncle Mo's pedigree is hardly Alydar out of Relaxing - but pay close attention to 2yo sales write-ups and hear what can pass for a "distance pedigree" in this industry from the mouth of consignors and get published.