Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) Wins Gr.2 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita

Adare Manor Continues Win Streak With G2 Santa Margarita Victory

Adare Manor (4f Uncle Mo x Brooklynsway, by Giant Gizmo) added another graded stakes victory to her record on Saturday with a win in the Grade II Santa Margarita Stakes for a third straight visit to the winner’s circle this year.

Racing over 1 1/8 miles, the Bob Baffert trainee went straight to the lead at Santa Anita to settle a length ahead of Cupid’s Desert Dawn. While she had horses close behind, they didn’t bother her and Adare Manor enjoyed her gallop down the backstretch with her ears pricked for much of the run until they closed in on the turn.

Desert Dawn tried to add more pressure at that point but that was the only motivation Adare Manor needed to get serious about her run. Juan Hernandez barely moved on her in the stretch as she romped to a 4 1/2 length win with Desert Dawn settling for third.

“She moves really smooth,” Hernandez said. “She just takes me there, I just let her go and you don’t feel anything because she was just galloping and moving really smooth. She is really fun.”

Owned by Michael Lund Petersen, Adare Manor is now the winner of five of 11 starts with four other top two finishes for $621,600 in earnings. The mare’s resume includes three graded stakes victories and two other at the level with only one off the board finish in her stakes starts. She came into this race off back-to-back wins, including a Grade II Santa Maria victory in her last race.

Donato Lanni purchased Adare Manor for $375,000 at the OBS June 2-Year-Olds Sale from Julie Davies after she had sold for $180,000 as a short yearling the previous year.

She was bred in partnership by Town and Country Horse Farms and Gary Broad out of the Grade III winner and Grade II-placed Brooklynsway, one of two stakes producers out of Explosive Story. That mare’s other foals include the winning Explosive Leah, who produced a three-quarter brother to Brooklynsway in the stakes placed Giant Teddy.

Brooklynsway had a full brother to Adare Manor on March 24 of this year. With nine stakes winners, Uncle Mo sits third on the General Sire list in 2023 with his 17 stakes performers fourth best in the group. His 2023 runners include the Grade I-winning A Mo Reay.