It seems like every single Triple Crown season, the favorite either loses or gets injured or sick and has to miss the derby or another TC race. In 2009, it was Mine that Bird who upset
favorite Pioneer of the Nile, and last year it was Eskendereya who was scratched after racing in the dreaded Wood Memorial, but this year it was 2 year old champ Uncle Mo. With that win, Mo was thrust into derby consideration and talks began regarding his chance to win the triple crown series. While his win was impressive, his beautiful brown coat and his owner were what captured my heart. After winning the BC Juvenile in an impressive manner, the 2 year old champ began his 3yr old campaign winning until placing 3rd in the Wood Memorial.. Yes, he had run in THE wood memorial- the same race that Eskendereya ran in, and derby favorite I Want Revenge. He was hoping to break the curse and be the first horse in a long time to complete the derby/wood combo. Shortly after the Wood Memorial, it was discovered that Uncle Mo had developed a GI infection which caused his 3rd place finish in the wood memorial - Tobys Corner won that race and was scratched from the derby also----hmmm, strange eh? We all hoped this little colt could pull through and run in the derby and everything looked positive until derby week. On post position draw day his connections were present, and he drew a bad post but we were still confident he could do anything. Soon after that, speculation on whether he would make it circulated on his facebook and on the web, and it was announced that Uncle Mo would be scratched from the derby, on the day before the derby. OH NO!!! SAY IT AINT SOO MO!!! Oh Mo , mo mo- people said on facebook, but it was so, very very so. We all know what happened on derby day, Animal Kingdom pulled an upset over Dialed in and we were once again denied a Triple Crown , and while we cheered and hollered for Animal Kingdom , Uncle Mo sat in his stall battling what is now a case of hepatitus. He was on our minds but we had no choice but to move on and hope that this was a sign from the horse racing gods, that Animal Kingdom was the horse to win the Triple Crown. Would Mo have won the whole thing?, would he have beaten AK, and won the crown? We will never know, but we must be hopeful that he will return and win the BC classic in November.
No comments:
Post a Comment