Kentucky Derby 2011: Uncle Mo Scratched From Race

Added on May 06, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Horse Racing

After weeks of speculation Uncle Mo has been scratched from the 2011 Kentucky Derby. The announcement was made earlier today by owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher. Mo had shipped to Churchill Downs and had been in training but following a final examination by a team of veterinarians on Thursday the determination to not enter him in the race was made.

Uncle Mo’s connections were visibly dejected as they broke the news. According to Pletcher, Mo’s bloodwork is somewhat confusing but they don’t want to take any chances:

“He’s got one specific enzyme that’s elevated that has everyone baffled; they can’t identify why. Generally, without getting too scientific, when this particular enzyme is elevated there is also something in the bloodwork that would lead them to the direction toward a liver or a kidney [issue], but this specific case it’s one single enzyme.”

Mo had been doing well but appears to have taken a step back in the past few days–Pletcher characterized it as ‘a little regression’:

“The biggest thing I see is depressed appetite loss of weight and his haircoat’s not right. When he was in the Breeders’ Cup last year he looked phenomenal; immense haircoat, dapples, rich color, good appetite, good weight, good muscle tone, anything you look for. . . . Unfortunately, he doesn’t have those things but we can’t find why.”

Owner Mike Repole had little to say as he deferred to Pletcher’s equine expertise:

“The decision was an easy decision because Todd Pletcher said he was not running.”

Pletcher said that at the earliest Mo wouldn’t race again until later in the summer and then expressed his disappointment and concern:

“It’s very, very, very, very, very disappointing. I said last year, honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had a horse as good as Uncle Mo. To not make it here is a big letdown. I take it as a personal failure, I feel extremely bad for Mike. He’s given us every resource possible to try and get this thing corrected. We ran out of time.”

“It’s very, very frustrating, but what we’re really concerned about is the horse’s health. We got something going on inside. I don’t know what it is, the best vets in the world don’t know what it is. Sometimes you can deal with issues when you know what they are, you know what’s okay and what’s not okay. But when you don’t know, that’s when you get scared.”

Pletcher and Repole will still have a horse in the Derby in the form of Mo’s ‘training partner’ Stay Thirsty.