Uncle Mo paddock

International Two-Year-Old Success For Uncle Mo

Mozu Aunt Mo (2f Uncle Mo x A Footstep Away, by Giant’s Causeway) looks an exciting prospect for her sire in Japan after impressively breaking her maiden at Kyoto overnight.

Running over seven furlongs on turf, the filly ranged up beside the leader with two furlongs left to run and quickly raced clear to win by three lengths under a hand ride by jockey Kenichi Ikezoe. It was the second start for the Naoyuki Morita-trainee, who finished second in her debut last month.

Bred by Springhill Farm, Mozu Aunt Mo was purchased by owner Capital System Co. Ltd from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $200,000 from the Meadowlark Valley Sales Agency consignment last year. The filly is one of four winners out of her dam and is a half-sister to stakes winning Two Thirty Five.

A half-sister to Grade 2 winner Lu Ravi, A Footstep Away had a full sister to Mozu Aunt Mo in 2018.

Mozu Aunt Mo joins a top-class group of winning two-year-olds for Uncle Mo this year that includes two-time Grade 1 winner Bast, who is set to make her next start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies next month.