Uncle Mo to debut in Timely Writer Stakes - By: SPORTS NETWORK

Owned by Mike Repole, Uncle Mo was originally scheduled to begin his road to the 2011 Kentucky Derby in the $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs on the same date as the Timely Writer.

"The Gulfstream Park surface is very similar to the surface that Mo's training on every day at Palm Meadows," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "There's also the advantage of a 20-minute van ride to Gulfstream as opposed to a four-hour ride to Tampa Bay. Mo's been training exceptionally well since his return and I am very confident and comfortable with either the Timely Writer or the Tampa Bay Derby."

As a two-year-old Uncle Mo won all three starts, including the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. He was voted the Eclipse Award winner as 2010 champion two-year-old colt. The colt has career earnings of nearly $1.3 million

"Our number one goal and focus is to do what's best for Uncle Mo to have a very healthy and successful three-year-old campaign," Repole said. "Mo has more than enough graded earnings to qualify for the Derby and we both feel that the Timely Writer will set him up perfectly for the April 9 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct en route to a start in the Kentucky Derby on May 7. In racing, there's no one's opinion I trust more than Todd Pletcher's, and just knowing how excited he is about the way Mo's training is very encouraging. With the race more than 2 1/2 weeks away, hopefully this will give Mo's fans ample time to make arrangements to watch his three-year-old debut."

At the conclusion of this past weekend's Kentucky Derby Future Wager, Uncle Mo finished as the 7-2 second choice among the 24 betting interests and the top individual three-year-old. The mutuel field was the 6-5 favorite.