"GET TO KNOW MO" CONTEST WINNERS MEET MO, REPOLE, PLETCHER, VELAZQUEZ

**Please see the attached image from this morning’s “Get to Know Mo” meet-and-greet, credit NYRA, Adam Coglianese. For video from the meet-and-greet, including an interview with Uncle Mo’s jockey John Velazquez, please visit the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFezQ6V1vdA**

 

Thursday, April 7, 2011

 

Contact: Dan Silver

dsilver@nyrainc.com

 

 

“GET TO KNOW MO” CONTEST WINNERS MEET MO, REPOLE, PLETCHER, VELAZQUEZ

 

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – This morning at Belmont Park, four of Uncle Mo’s biggest fans enjoyed the unique opportunity to spend time with the undefeated champion colt, his owner Mike Repole, five-time Eclipse winning trainer Todd Pletcher, and Belmont Stakes-winning jockey John Velazquez.

 

Diane Keba, the winner of NYRA’s online “Get to Know Mo” contest, was joined by three of Uncle Mo’s most dedicated fans selected from his Facebook page – Linda Marie Fiore, Mike Heege, and Alexa Ravit – for the special visit.

 

Uncle Mo had a sensational juvenile campaign, including a 14 ½-length score in his debut at Saratoga Race Course, followed by dominant victories in the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs, earning him Eclipse Award honors as 2010’s Champion 2-Year-Old Male.

 

“The way he showed in the Breeders’ Cup it was probably the best race that he ran yet,” said Velazquez. “He rated and did everything I wanted to do, and then when I asked him to run down the lane, he exploded. Those are the things we are looking for him, he’s not one-dimensional. He showed that he can be any kind of horse.”

 

Uncle Mo is the 1-5 morning-line favorite for the Grade 1, $1 million Resorts World New York Casino Wood Memorial, which will be his second start of 2011 and his final race before May 7’s Kentucky Derby. Wood Memorial Day at Aqueduct also includes also includes the Grade 1 Carter Handicap for sprinters, the Grade 3 Bay Shore for 3-year-old sprinters, and the Grade 3 Comely for 3-year-old filly milers.

 

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