Sales-Topping Uncle Mo Colt Makes Successful Debut

[Wandering Eyes]

The better fancied of a pair of debuting 3-year-olds for trainer Bob Baffert, Michael Lund Petersen's SHAAZ (c, 3, Uncle Mo–Miss Ocean City, by Mineshaft) overcame his inexperience and overhauled his barnmate Hopkins (Quality Road) in the dying strides to graduate Sunday at Santa Anita. The $1.1-million topper from the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Shaaz was not the quickest away and lingered in the latter third of the field as Hopkins set a fast pace over a track that had been yielding slow sectionals in the first few races. Wide on the turn, the Virginia-bred began to find his best stride three furlongs from home and took aim on Hopkins after a half in :45.01. He looked as if he might be able to run up the score in the final eighth of a mile, but he refused to swap his leads, weaving in an out under John Velazquez, but he knuckled down in the final 50 yards and proved about a half-length best as the 1-2 chalk. Shaaz, a $185,000 buyback at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, was knocked down to Donato Lanni, agent for Petersen, for the sales-topping price at Midlantic in 2020 after breezing an eighth of a mile in :10 flat (see below). Lanni paid a sales-topping $1.8 million for Gamine (Into Mischief) at FTMMAY in 2019. Sales history: $185,000 Ylg '19 FTSAUG; $1,100,000 2yo '20 FTMMAY. O-Michael Lund Petersen; B-William M Backer Revocable Trust (VA); T-Bob Baffert.

 

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