Unbridled Mo Edges Out Monmouth Oaks Victory

Red Oak Stable's Unbridled Mo sat off the speed of Tejana before pushing past the pacesetter in late stretch to capture the $100,000 Monmouth Oaks (gr. III) at Monmouth Park Aug. 20 by a neck.

Trained by Todd Pletcher, the Uncle Mo   filly went 1 1/16 miles over a fast main track in 1:44 1/5 and paid $6.80, $3.20 and $2.60 as the third choice in the field of six 3-year-old fillies. Tejana, a perfect two-for-two coming into the Oaks, settled for second, paying $3.20 and $2.60 and completing the $22.60 exacta. Mo d'Amour, who closed strongly on the outside, was another three-quarters of a length back in third.

"I had a good trip," said winning jockey Paco Lopez.  "My filly doesn't have too much speed so I wanted to just sit off the pace. She didn't have too much patience and wanted to go pressure the horse on the lead in the backstretch. She ran very well today and had to work for the win."

 A homebred from the Unbridled mare Unbridled Waters, Unbridled Mo has won her last three starts and is three for four lifetime. She has earned $103,680.

"I told Paco in the paddock how great she's doing," assistant trainer Anthony Sciametta Jr. said. "I was surprised to see her so close early, but they weren't going too fast and no one was really pressing the leader. She had to grind out the win today. I was real impressed. She's a very solid filly."