Mo Forza Back to Winning Ways in G2 Del Mar Mile

Uncle Mo’s Grade I winner Mo Forza (5h Uncle Mo x Inflamed, by Unusual Heat) put on a show off an extended layoff with a second victory in the Grade II Del Mar Mile.

Taking on a field where every horse was a Grade I or II winner, Mo Forza broke a little awkwardly in the one mile turf race but quickly got into stride and settled into fourth. Racing just under five lengths behind the leader, Mo Forza was asked to flash his speed in the final three furlongs by Flavien Prat and he did just that.

Racing alongside Grade I winner Hit The Road, Mo Forza showed his best late when taking the lead with less than a sixteenth left to go to beat fellow Grade I winner Smooth Like Strait by a head with Hit The Road 1l back in third.

Trained by Peter Miller for owner-breeder Bardy Farm and racing owner OG Boss, Mo Forza has won seven of his 13 starts with four other top three finishes for $914,460 in earnings. Among those wins is the Grade I Hollywood Derby and five Grade II victories.

“I was worried if I had him fit enough, I really was,” Miller said. “But he’s a champion and he’s got that heart of a champion. I’m just glad I had him fit enough. Just enough.”

The first foal for his dam, Mo Forza is out of a full sister to Grade II winner Burns and Grade I-placed Brushburn. He traces back to four-time Grade I winner Politely, whose other descendants include Grade I winners Minstrel’s Lassie, Street Band, Manighar and more.

Mo Forza’s dam Inflamed also has a Munnings 2-year-old colt named Highly Flammable, who was sold for $220,000 at this year’s OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds. She returned to Uncle Mo again in 2020.

Mo Forza is one of eight stakes winners, 18 stakes performers, four graded stakes winners, and six graded stakes performers for Uncle Mo in 2021. The top sire of his generation, Uncle Mo ranks among the top sires in North America year in and year out.