Graded Double for Uncle Mo
Outstanding sire Uncle Mo was in top form on Saturday with classy mare Ultra Brat (5m Uncle Mo x Prof McGonagall, by Giant’s Causeway) winning the $150,000 Grade III Gallorette Stakes at Pimlico, while Miss Mo Mentum (3f Uncle Mo x Somalia, by Mineshaft) took out the Grade III Selene Stakes at Woodbine.
The Graham Motion trained Ultra Brat was in a class of her own, charging clear of her rivals to win the 1 and 1/16th mile turf contest by some 10 lengths.
“She ran perfect,” said winning rider Jose Ortiz. “She broke great and we went to a good position. She relaxed well, and that was the most important thing. Because she can be a little high strung, like in the post parade. From the three-eighths pole I tested her to see if she was going to go. I showed her the whip a little bit and she jumped in the bit beautifully. I let her go on. I knew nobody would gain a lot of ground, so I wanted to make the first move.”
A homebred for Alex Campbell, Ultra Brat is a multiple stakes-winner and has won six of 14 starts earning over $378,000 in prizemoney and is a half-sister to Grade III winner It’s Tea Time.
A stakes-winner at Gulfstream last year, the Mark Casse trained Miss Mo Mentum scored a neck win in the Selene Stakes over 1 and 1/16th mile on the all weather surface to earn her first Graded success.
“She’s a horse we’ve really liked right from the beginning and she’s just had some bad luck and run in some tough races and it’s really nice to see her get to the winner’s circle where she should be,” said Kathryn Sullivan, trainer Mark Casse’s Canadian based assistant.
Miss Mo Mentum has won four of 10 starts and is the best of three winners from her dam Somalia.