Mo Mariano Lives Up to Promise in Debut
Less than 24 hours after registering his first stakes winner, Mo Town saw Mo Mariano (2g Mo Town x Coral Beach, by Tale of the Cat) become his 14th winner overall with a debut victory at Delaware Park.
Though he was making his first start, Mo Mariano didn’t show any greenness while going to the front in the six furlong dirt race to set the pace. Pressured throughout much of the running, he handled it all professionally and started to pull away as the field hit the stretch while the horse who pressured him started to fade.
By the time he hit the line, Mo Mariano had 3 ½ lengths between himself and the rest of the field to back up the talent he showed when registering four bullets in his last six works.
Bred by Hidden Lake Farm in New York, Mo Mariano was a $150,000 Keeneland September Yearling purchase by racing co-owners Kinsman Farm, who race the gelding with Bach Stables with Michael Stidham having training duties.
Mo Mariano is out of a winning Tale of the Cat half-sister to Chilean champion Desert Power and five other winners. Their dam Coral Genius is a half-sister to Grade II winner Cool Coal Man, multiple stakes winner Kathleens Reel, and Grade III-placed Battle Midway.
Fourteen winners puts Mo Town eighth among all freshman sires in 2022 with the Uncle Mo son also the sire of three stakes performers led by the stakes winning Key of Life.