Mo Forza Extends Win Streak in Mathis Brothers
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Mo Forza wins the Mathis Brothers Mile at Santa Anita Park
It may have taken Bardy Farms and OG Boss' Mo Forza five tries to break his maiden, but he's been a fixture in the winner's circle since then.
The son of Uncle Mo collected a fourth straight win, three of them graded, drawing clear under Joel Rosario in the stretch for a 1 1/4-length victory in the $202,106 Mathis Brothers Mile Stakes (G2T) for 3-year-olds, the last of six graded stakes on the delayed Dec. 28 opening day of Santa Anita Park's winter/spring meet.
Bred by Bardy Farm, favored Mo Forza ($4.40) added the Mathis Brothers Mile to a streak of wins that started with a maiden score in September and continued with victories in the Twilight Derby (G2T) and the Hollywood Derby (G1T).
"It's like a big kid who finally learns how to use his feet and hands and it's all over," trainer Peter Miller said. "He's always had the talent but he could never quite put it all together, and I don't think we've seen the best of him yet. He's just starting to learn and once he relaxes, gets better, and doesn't want to lay in when he passes that last horse, the sky's the limit. He's a tremendous horse and it was a great job by Joel in harnessing him."
If the best is indeed yet to come for Mo Forza, there couldn't be a better time for it than the 3-year-old's next start, which figures to be the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes Sponsored by Runhappy (G1T).
"If everything's going well, I don't see any reason why the Pegasus wouldn't be our next target," Miller said about the 1 3/16-mile turf race at Gulfstream Park Jan. 25.
Mo Forza, out of the Unusual Heat mare Inflamed, was ninth in a field of 11 behind a rapid :22.38 opening quarter-mile on good turf that played into the hands of his late-running style.
Content to travel wide, Rosario moved the favorite four-wide and grabbed the lead near mid-stretch, and though he lugged in, he remained clear enough en route to covering the mile in 1:34.26.
"He was happy where he was and he loves to make that move on the turn. I just had to stay with that," Rosario said.
With the victory, his fourth in nine career starts, Mo Forza's earnings increased to $499,460.
BG Stables' Originaire closed quickly in the stretch to take second for trainer Jeff Mullins under jockey Umberto Rispoli, who previously rode in Hong Kong.
CYBT, Saul Gevertz, Lynn Gitomer, Mike Goetz, Michael Nentwig and Daniel Weiner's Neptune Storm, the 3-1 second choice who was second to Mo Forza in the Hollywood Derby, wound up third, 1 1/2 lengths behind Originaire.