BY LAURIE ROSS
Mr Louise gives Florida breeders something worth a second look. Standing at Shady Oaks Farm in Ocala, Uncle Mo’s son brings commercial pedigree appeal, a productive family and proven influences on both sides, a solid foundation for a regional stallion with something to prove.
Mr Louise (Uncle Mo – Call Mariah, by Dixie Union) was bred by Judy Hicks, Kathryn Nikkel and Sanford Robertson, breeders of 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna.
Mr Louise went through the sales ring twice, bringing $120,000 from W.D. North Thoroughbreds at the 2014 Keeneland yearling auction, and was consigned to the following year’s Fasig-Tipton Florida Select Sale of 2-year-olds, where trainer Antonio Sano purchased him for $600,000.
PEDIGREE
Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie – Playa Maya, by Arch) was a brilliant competitor and sire. The Eclipse Award 2010 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt was undefeated in his first four starts, including a four-and-a-quarter-length score in the Grade 1 Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
The overwhelming favorite for the Kentucky Derby, Uncle Mo was handed a stunning one-length defeat in the Wood Memorial (G1). Trainer Todd Pletcher scratched Uncle Moe the day before the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands due to a gastrointestinal infection and the colt was sidelined until the following August.
Uncle Moe returned with a strong effort in the King’s Bishop (G1), missing by a nose to finish second. He romped over a short field in the Kelso Handicap (G2) but closed out his career with a disappointing tenth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic. It was later discovered that he suffered from a rare liver disease. Uncle Mo retired after eight starts with a bankroll of $1,606,000.
While standing at Ashford Stud, Uncle Mo was consistently at the top of the leading-sire ranks, appearing on the leaderboard from first through sixth leading sire lists and remained a Top 10 presence in most years until his untimely death in 2024.
Uncle Mo’s first crop produced 25 individual black type winners, including Nyquist, a five-time Grade 1 winner, whose honors include champion 2-year-old male and 2016 Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands winner. Nyquist is his sire’s leading son at stud.
Uncle Mo’s progeny win over all surfaces and distances, with brilliant offspring like Florida-bred Golden Pal, who captured the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) and Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) in consecutive years, as well as classic distance winners Mo Donegal and Arabian Knight.
The Uncle Mo – Dixie Union cross produced six winners from ten starters.
Mr Louise’s catalog page begins with valuable black-type runners and producers and continues with competitors who made their mark at the Grade 1 level.
Call Mariah (Dixie Union – Chasethewildwind, by Forty Niner) was a $100,000 Keeneland September Yearling, but unfortunately never made it to the races, and joined the broodmare band at Turtle Creek Farms.
Call Mariah’s most accomplished foal, Bodecream (Bodemeister – Call Mariah, by Dixie Union), captured the Texas Turf Mile in his first start at three, and placed in five other stakes, including close finishes in Belmont Park’s Hill Prince (G2) and the Saranac Stakes (G3) at Saratoga. Now nine, Bodecream is still going strong after 42 starts and earnings of $548,539.
Call Mariah’s daughters, Determined Jester (Practical Joke) was an eye-catching four-and-a-half-length winner of the Rosie’s Stakes at Colonial Downs as a 2-year-old; and Califante (GB) (Kyllachy (GB)) was third in the seven-furlong Brownstown Stakes (Group 3) and second in the Listed Stonehenge Stakes in Great Britain.
The majority of black-type earners in Mr Louise’s second generation are males, anchored by Call Mariah’s half-brothers, Albertus Maximus (Albert the Great) and Daredevil (More Than Ready).
Albertus Maximus was a multiple-stakes winner from a mile to nine furlongs, including the Donn Handicap (G1). He set a new stakes record of 1:33.41 over Santa Anita’s all-weather track in the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, which almost eclipsed the track record of 1:33.37, set ten months earlier.
Where his half-brother was later maturing, Daredevil was a precocious youngster, winning the Champagne (G1) by two-and-a-half lengths ahead of future Grade 2-winner and multiple stakes-placed Upstart. Daredevil sired 182 winners, ten of them stakes winners, including the remarkable fillies, Preakness (G1) heroine and 2020 Champion 3 Year Old Filly, Swiss Skydiver and Multiple Grade 1-winner Shedaresthedevil, who met in an exciting showdown in the Kentucky Oaks, with Shedaresthedevil getting the upper hand by a length-and-a-half, vindicating the loss to her rival in the Fantasy Stakes (G3).
Call Mariah’s half-sister, the Grade 3-placed Chasethegold (Touch Gold) bore only one black-type earner, Grade 2-placed Goldrush Girl (Political Force), but her daughter Cayala (Cherokee Run) bore four stakes earning colts and geldings: 2025 Wood Memorial (G1) hero Rodriguez (Authentic), Grade 3-winner One Liner (Into Mischief), and his full brothers, Listed winners Provocateur and Roderick.
The extended family includes Mr Louise’s third dam, Grade 1 winner Race the Wild Wind (Sunny’s Halo) and her Grade 1-winning descendants, Here Comes Ben (Street Cry) and Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief).
Dixie Union (Dixieland Band – She’s Tops, by Capote) was an exceptional 2-year-old dominating California racing in 1999. Primarily a sprinter – miler, Dixie Union was able to carry his speed a mile-and-an-eight in the Haskell Invitational (G1). Dixie Union finished on the board in ten of twelve starts, with earnings of $1,233,190.
His daughters pass on his natural high cruising speed, consistently producing top-tier graded stakes winners on dirt and turf, and he serves as the maternal grandsire of a current 74 stakes winners.
They include 2019 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve runner-up and Travers (G1)-hero Code of Honor (Noble Mission (GB), 2013 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day (Street Cry), Mor Spirit (Eskendereya) Grade 1 winner of the Los Alamitos Futurity and Met Mile and Mohaymen (Tapit) who was undefeated in his first five starts, including the Grade 2 Lambholm South Holy Bull and Grade 2 Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth Stakes.
Mr Louise is a stallion for breeders who still believe a strong family can open the door when opportunity is limited. His page offers enough substance to merit careful consideration, especially for mares that can add performance and help move the line forward.
In a regional program built on practical choices, he gives Florida breeders a chance to work with bloodlines that have already proven they can rise when matched correctly.
Return to the May 26 issue of Wire to Wire
