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Modernist is one of the more exciting first-year stallions standing in 2022, as a multiple graded stakes-winning son of leading racehorse and sire Uncle Mo, from the immediate female family of broodmare of the year Sweet Life (Modernist’s second dam, and also the dam of Eclipse Champion Sweet Catomine and Breeders’ Cup winner Life is Sweet). He’s also a knockout physical, with plenty of size and substance, and a balanced, correct build. All of which makes Modernist an exciting first mate for the recently-retired Mia Rosa.
Uncle Mo is currently all the rage as a sire-of-sires given that his sons Nyquist, Laoban and Outwork all had incredible success with their first 2YOs in 2020, and then followed it up with plenty more success in 2021 (at least the first two, anyway). The first offspring of his son Mo Town have sold very well, though they aren’t yet of racing age, and Uncle Mo’s own offspring continue to run well, too (he currently sits at #12 on the TDN’s general sire list). Modernist, as mentioned, was a very high-class racehorse during the Covid-affected 2020 season, when he took the G2 Risen Star on the Kentucky Derby trail, and then at 4YO he captured the G3 Excelsior in New York for trainer Bill Mott.
Interestingly, given that Mia Rosa is a daughter of the Dynaformer horse Temple City, Modernist is inbred 4×3 to Kris S. — like Dynaformer, a son of Roberto. The cross of Uncle Mo and his sons with mares by Dynaformer-line horses is good for an “A++” on TrueNicks, with a pair of stakes winners (one a G3 winner) from just 10 runners (8 winners) bred this way. And inbreeding to Roberto has been a very successful tactic, in general, so we’re excited to have him reinforced 6x5x4 with this mating.
Additionally, Mia Rosa is out of a daughter of long-time leading sire A.P. Indy, and the Uncle Mo/A.P. Indy cross is also good for a very strong “A” rating on TrueNicks, thanks in part to the 2022 G2 victories by Un Ojo and Turnerloose, who are by the aforementioned Laoban and Nyquist, respectively, and out of A.P. Indy dams. With Modernist himself being out of a daughter of A.P. Indy’s son Bernardini, that means the foal from this mating will also be inbred to A.P. Indy, in this case 4×3.
Physically this is a strong matchup as well as on pedigree, given that both Modernist and Mia Rosa are tall, scopey horses with plenty of leg and substance — so a nice case of like-to-like, which we always prefer to get when we can. They’ll hopefully produce a big, pretty foal in both of their images.