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Uncle Mo Colt Brings the ‘Energy’ Second Out at Fair Grounds

2nd-Fair Grounds, $55,000, Msw, 12-23, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:44.98, ft, 5 1/4 lengths.
ETHAN ENERGY (c, 2, Uncle Mo–Sass and Class, by Harlan's Holiday), a well-beaten sixth on debut sprinting at Keeneland Oct. 22, took a major step forward stretching to two turns at second asking here. Removing blinkers and adding Lasix for this, the 2-1 chance chased in fifth rounding the clubhouse turn. Racing under a tight hold by Florent Geroux, he began to settle down the backstretch in that same slot, made a flashy four-wide blitz approaching the quarter pole and leveled off nicely down the lane to win by 5 1/4 lengths over El Magnifico (Street Sense). Sass and Class, also responsible for Royal Charlotte (Cairo Prince), MGSW, $408,150; had a colt by Authentic in 2022 and a colt by Curlin in 2023. She was bred back to Uncle Mo for 2024. Sass and Class brought $350,000 from Stonestreet carrying Ethan Energy at the 2020 KEENOV sale. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $34,250. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.

#2 ETHAN ENERGY ($6.20) stalked the early pace, gained command in the stretch, and kicked clear for an impressive second-out victory in the 2nd at Fair Grounds.

The @StonestreetFarm homebred by @coolmoreamerica's Uncle Mo was ridden by @flothejock for @bradcoxracing. pic.twitter.com/PWbV2m9V1E

— TVG (@TVG) December 23, 2023

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Desert Dawn Favored In Friday’s Bayakoa S.

Some trivia for you equine enthusiasts out there. Who is the only horse to have two graded stakes named after them?

The answer is Bayakoa (Arg).

The Ron McAnally trainee who won a pair of GI Breeders' Cup Distaffs has one at Oaklawn, while its counterpart takes place this Friday at Los Alamitos Racecourse.

The Grade III event out West pits morning-line favorite and Arizona-bred Desert Dawn (Cupid) versus six others going 1 1/16 miles. The 4-year-old filly trained by Phil D'Amato is loaded with class, even though she has not won since the GII Santa Anita Oaks over a year and a half ago.

Still, her speed figures put her at the top of this group as she cuts back after running fifth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff last month at Santa Anita.

Midnight Memories (Mastery) was third last out in the GI Beholder Mile in March at Santa Anita, one spot ahead of Desert Dawn. Clocking some awfully fast times for trainer Bob Baffert these past few months, the dark bay could be fresh and ready to fire.

One entry who could play spoiler is the other half of D'Amato's uncoupled entry, Turnerloose (Nyquist). As a 3-year-old she won the GII Rachel Alexandra S. at 18-1, switched to turf and now has the chance to get back on the dirt.

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Angel of Empire Gearing Up for 4-Year-Old Campaign – ‘We’re Expecting a Big Year From Him’

Angel of Empire (Classic Empire), a powerful winner of this spring's GI Arkansas Derby and a rallying third as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, has returned to training at WinStar Training Center and is expected to rejoin trainer Brad Cox at either Fair Grounds or Oaklawn Park within the next month.

The Albaugh Family Stables colorbearer was given a freshening after concluding his six-race sophomore campaign with a dead-heat fourth-place finish in the GI Belmont S. June 10 and a close third-place finish in a roughly run renewal of the GII Jim Dandy S. in the slop at Saratoga July 29. Angel of Empire was also a come-from-behind winner of the GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds Feb. 18.

“The Triple Crown is a big ask to get through all those races and he never really had a break since he started,” Albaugh Family Stable's General Manager Jason Loutsch said.

“We try to listen to our horses. After the Jim Dandy, he came back and you could tell he had enough. We did the right thing–we obviously would've liked to press on and make the Breeders' Cup–but we gave him some time and thought that he could have a really big 4-year-old season. We're excited to get him going. I think he'll be one of the top handicap horses next year if he continues to go forward. He's doing really well right now.”

Angel of Empire, one of four graded winners for young sire Classic Empire, is the first foal out of the 7-year-old To Honor and Serve mare Armony's Angel, who brought $1.8 million from Katsumi Yoshida while in foal to Gun Runner at last month's Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Bred in Pennsylvania by Forgotten Land Investment Inc. and Black Diamond Equine Corp., Angel of Empire was purchased by Dennis Albaugh's operation for just $70,000 during the eighth session of the Keeneland September Yearling sale. He previously RNA'd for $32,000 as a Keeneland November weanling.

“He'll get a start around March or so and we'll probably target something on (Kentucky) Derby Day,” Loutsch said. “The end goal would be to try to get to the Breeders' Cup.”

Loutsch concluded, “He's such a cool horse and he tries hard every time. He deserved the time off and we're expecting a big year from him.”

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Thursday’s Insights: Daughter of Uncle Mo Debuts at Big A

1st-AQU, $85K, Msw, 3yo/up, f, 6 1/2f, 12:20pm
Godolphin's SPLIT SCREEN (Uncle Mo) gets her start for trainer Brad Cox, who strikes with 26% of his firsters. Having been working along the Kentucky circuit of late, she posted her latest trial at Turfway Dec. 2, covering five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 (34/62) over that oval's synthetic surface. The homebred is out of SW Divided Attention (A.P. Indy), a half-sister to Grade I winner Folklore. TJCIS PPS

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