The late Uncle Mo recorded an exacta of sorts in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, which serves to underline his continuing legacy. The victorious Journalism is out of Uncle Mo’s daughter Mopotism, the late stallion’s latest accomplishment as a broodmare sire. Runner-up Gosger is by Uncle Mo’s champion son and leading heir, Nyquist.
The Coolmore group stood Uncle Mo at its Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., from his first season in 2012 through his death last December following complications from a leg injury. Coolmore announced this spring that it had acquired the future stud rights to Journalism, and also entered into the ownership partnership for the Curlin colt’s ongoing racing career.
Adrian Mansergh Wallace, part of the nominations and sales division at Coolmore America, was among members of the team on hand at Pimlico on Saturday. While admitting “it’s bittersweet,” of Uncle Mo’s influence on this Preakness, he marveled at the stallion’s legacy.
“We were so lucky to have him,” Wallace said. “We were blessed to have him. And hopefully through various sons of his coming through, and then hopefully through a horse like Journalism, we’ll continue his blood for generations to come. I think he’s a stallion we’ll never, ever forget.”
Uncle Mo, himself the Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old of 2010, is the sire of 15 individual Grade/Group 1 winners to date, with more runners in the offing, and his final foals are arriving this spring. His best include a pair of American classic winners, in Nyquist, who followed up his own Eclipse champion juvenile season in 2015 with the 2016 Kentucky Derby, and Mo Donegal, winner of the 2022 Belmont Stakes.
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Nyquist and Mo Donegal are among Uncle Mo’s more than two dozen sons advertised at stud, nine of those in Kentucky. Nyquist, who entered stud in 2017 for Darley, is the sire of 19 graded stakes winners overall, including Gosger, who won the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes before his gut-wrenching defeat in the Preakness, in which he was clear by five lengths in the stretch before being run down by favored Journalism. Nyquist is also the sire of a pair of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winners and divisional champions in Vequist (2020) and Immersive (2024). They are among his six Grade 1 winners. Uncle Mo’s sons Outwork, now standing in Saudi Arabia, and the late Laoban both also sired Grade 1 winners.
These statistics should only continue to improve, with a number of Uncle Mo’s Grade 1-winning sons just entering the pipeline. Yaupon (Spendthrift Farm) has his first runners this year, while Golden Pal (Ashford) and Mo Donegal (Spendthrift) are represented by their first yearlings. Two more Grade 1 winners, Arabian Knight (Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm) and Kingsbarns (Spendthrift), joined the sire ranks this year.
Yaupon is already indicating that he is an exciting addition to this sireline. His first starter, Sassy C W, dazzled winning her debut by 5 1/2 lengths on April 30 at Churchill Downs, sizzling 4 1/2 furlongs in 51.34 seconds and earning the chart comment “rocket ship.”
“Just as a bunch, they are very solid,” said juvenile consignor Steve Venosa, whose SGV Thoroughbreds is bringing a well-regarded colt by Yaupon out of the graded stakes winner Just Jenda to this week’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale.
In addition to his successful sons at stud, Uncle Mo has also been emerging as a broodmare sire at a relatively early juncture – his oldest daughters are 12. His daughter Sataves is the dam of 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, whose top-level wins include the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. He is also the broodmare sire of Grade 1 winners Geaux Rocket Ride, Howard Wolowitz, and Muth – and now, classic winner Journalism.
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The Preakness and Santa Anita Derby winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up, Journalism is the first foal out of the Uncle Mo mare Mopotism, who won the Grade 2 La Canada at a mile and was on the board in 10 other graded stakes. That included Grade 1 placings around both one and two turns, behind Eclipse Award champions Abel Tasman, Midnight Bisou, and Unique Bella.
While noting that Journalism bears a physical resemblance to sire Curlin, trainer Michael McCarthy said Journalism also inherited “the athleticism of Uncle Mo.
“Mopotism, his dam, [was] obviously very effective at two turns, mile and beyond,” McCarthy added. “So I could go on and on here about this horse and how it’s blue skies ahead for him.”
Mopotism was a $1.05 million Fasig-Tipton November mixed sale purchase by Don Alberto. After first producing Journalism, an $825,000 yearling purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, she then foaled the now-2-year-old Tapit colt Nitro Tap, who was a $1.5 million buy by Flying Dutchmen at the same sale a year later. Mopotism is the dam of a yearling Into Mischief filly, and delivered a Flightline filly in late April.
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