Modernist puts himself firmly into Kentucky Derby contention .
Former Coolmore Australia shuttler Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) added to his stakes winners tally in the US on Saturday.
Modernist (3 c ex Symbolic Gesture by Bernardini) became the 54th stakes winner for Uncle Mo when he won the Risen Star Stakes (Gr 2, 9f) at Fair Grounds and the Bill Mott-trained colt put himself firmly into Kentucky Derby (Gr 1, 9f) contention with the victory.
Now the winner of two of his four career starts, Modernist defeated Major Fed (Ghostzapper) by a length, with a neck back to Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) in third.
"He won at a mile and an eighth in New York and has progressed really well in this early part of his three-year-old year," said Mott.
"He's become more mature and has been more professional about everything. I couldn't be more delighted with how he acted in the paddock and post parade. I told Junior (jockey Junior Alvardo) to take advantage of the one hole. The horse handled everything really well."
Modernist is out of the unraced Bernardini (A P Indy) mare Symbolic Gesture who is a half-sister to the multiple Grade 1 winners Sweet Caroline (Storm Cat) and Life Is Sweet (Storm Cat), being out of Listed winner and Grade 1 placed Sweet Life (Kris S).
Modernist is bred on the extremely successful Uncle Mo - Bernardini cross that has produced eight winners from 13 runners including three Graded stakes winners, led by Grade 1 winner Mo Town. The cross has produced over 30 per cent stakes horses from runners with four stakes horses overall.
Uncle Mo has sired eight Group / Grade 1 winners to date headed by his Kentucky Derby winning son Nyquist. He shuttled to Australia for four seasons between 2012 and 2015.
Uncle Mo's 2020 fee at Coolmore's Ashford Stud is US$125,000.
Factor This (5 h ex Capricious Miss by Singspiel), a dual Listed winner previously, became the eighth Graded stakes winner for former Newgate Farm shuttler The Factor when he won the Fair Ground Stakes (Gr 3, 9f) on the turf on Saturday. Trained by Brad Cox, Factor This scored by a length from Synchrony (Tapit) with another four and a half lengths back to Botswana (Graydar) in third.
The Factor's stakes winners are headed Grade 1 winners Cistron and Noted And Quoted. He stood in Australia for four seasons from 2014 to 2017 and his 2020 fee at Lane's End farm is set at US$17,500.
