Mo Forza Nets Impressive Maiden Special Weight Winners At Del Mar
Del Mar, California—Rancho San Miguel’s Mo Forza tightened his grip on his status as California’s Leading Second-Crop Sire over the weekend with a pair of winners in rich maiden special weight races at Del Mar: a first-out starter and his first six figure-earner.
On August 15, his 3-year-old gelding Mo Diamantes made a winning debut over nine rivals with an inside trip under jockey Kazushi Kimura in a $82,500 five-furlong sprint over Del Mar’s turf course, which he mastered in :57.93 by a half-length victory margin at the wire.
The youngster earned $48,000 in his initial run for Slugo Racing, an ownership group which acquired him for $70,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale and subsequently placed him in the barn of trainer Mike Puype. He is the fifth winner from six starters out of the multiple winner Joyce and Me, by Discreet Cat, and was bred in California by Bar C Racing Stables.
Less than 24 hours after the winning performance by Mo Diamantes, another talented runner from Mo Forza’s 2023 crop lived up to his 2-5 billing and made history as his sire’s first offspring to pass the $100,000 benchmark in earnings with a visually impressive victory at 1 1/16 miles on the same Del Mar grass.
Second three times from his four prior starts at the high-dollar maiden special weight level on the East Coast, including two near-miss efforts this summer at Saratoga Race Course, Kentucky-bred Bull Shoals thrived with the move west for trainer Jena Antonucci, who paired the colt with jockey Umberto Rispoli for his California debut. The result was a well-moderated effort that yielded a facile, 3 1/4-length score in an untested 1:42.73, as well as the accompanying $48,000 winner’s portion of the $80,500 test.
Bull Shoals is the first foal out of the Liam’s Map mare Rapid Water, and has banked $108,521 to date for owner / co-breeder Bushman Thoroughbreds.
Boasting 17 race winners to his credit, Grade 1 winner Mo Forza leads all California-based second-crop sires with overall progeny earnings of more than $817,000. The 10-year-old son of Uncle Mo stood for a $5,000 fee in 2026.
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