Bloodlines Presented By Walmac Farm: Ohio Derby Winner Mo Plex Strikes Blow For Complexity In Second-Crop Sire Race originally appeared on Paulick Report.

Spendthrift Farm’s hot young sire Vekoma (by Candy Ride) is cruising along as the leading second-crop sire with 2025 progeny earnings of $5.8 million and is wildly popular at a fee of $35,000 live foal. He leads second-place McKinzie (Street Cry) by nearly $3 million, but the five young sires behind the leader are all separated by margins of about $200,000. That presents a substantial but not defining margin.

With progeny earnings of $2.9 million, McKinzie (Gainesway; $75,000) leads third-place Authentic (Into Mischief; Spendthrift, $15,000) at $2.7 million. Then we have Complexity (Maclean’s Music; Airdrie, $25,000) at $2.5 million, Volatile (Violence; Three Chimneys, $12,500) at $2.3 million, and Tiz the Law (Constitution; Ashford, $30,000) at $2 million.

The leading half-dozen top young sires have all had moments when they have struck the brass ring of success, and this weekend, Complexity reminded all that he was the early leader of this group for a reason. He had some fast and talented young racers who came out early last year and proceeded to make their sire a hot commodity indeed, with graded and group stakes winners in England and America.

One of those most prominent offspring by Complexity last season was Mo Plex, who won the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga last July. Eleven months later, Mo Plex is proving that he didn’t leave his ability in the barn but has carried it forward this season. He confirmed that with a victory in Saturday’s G3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown Racetrack in Ohio.

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Following a third in the G1 Champagne Stakes and a second in the restricted Sleepy Hollow Stakes last October, Mo Plex was away from racing for five months. He returned in March with a third in the restricted Gander Stakes, but the next month, Mo Plex won the listed Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct by a head, racing the seven furlongs in 1:21.96.

With two months between the Bay Shore victory and the nine-furlong Ohio Derby, Mo Plex prospered and won his first race over the longer distance by two lengths in 1:50.72. Only the fourth choice behind the favored Chunk of Gold (Preservationist), Mo Plex convincingly defeated the colt who had been second in the G2 Louisiana Derby and then had been a respectable ninth in the G1 Kentucky Derby.

Chunk of Gold had two lengths over third-place McAfee (Cloud Computing), the year-younger half-brother to champion Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) who had been second to Hill Road (Quality Road) in his previous start, the G3 Peter Pan Stakes.

Bred in New York by Everything’s Cricket Racing, Mo Plex is not only eligible to race among his fellow state-breds but is also Virginia certified to race in events for those with their Virginia passport properly stamped.

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That gives the quick, talented colt multiple options that could make him a major earner for his owners R & H Stable. Mo Plex has always had speed, but he now has proven himself capable of extending his range out to at least nine furlongs. Versatility is an important ingredient in a high-quality racehorse.

So’s a good pedigree, although that is a more important factor for those horses who accomplish enough to have a chance at stud.

And one of the most fascinating things about the Ohio Derby finish is pedigree. Both the first and third are by sons of Maclean’s Music (Distorted Humor), and both are out of daughters of Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie). That’s surely just a coincidence. Right.

Mo Plex, for instance, has multiple lines of Native Dancer through Raise a Native, plus a handful more through other sources. One of his most interesting things about this kind of mating – Maclean’s Music over an Uncle Mo mare – is the relative absence of Northern Dancer. It’s still there, but it’s relatively small.

The importance of Uncle Mo is not small, however. The champion 2-year-old and champion sire is a factor of great significance in a pedigree, and as he spreads his influence as a sire of stallions and broodmares, breeders will have reason to lament the big stallion’s early loss.

Stallion prospects of this sort pose fascinating opportunities as mates for mares loaded with Northern Dancer, which we see around the world, including the States.

In addition, the first three are all counter to the trend of pure speed in American breeding. Both Mo Plex and McAfee are better horses racing seven to 10 furlongs; their stride lengths, stride frequency, and general cadence all indicated that, and their racing is proving this out.

The second-place colt, Chunk of Gold, has some speed, but he is really a colt who wants to race distances not widely available in the racing programs here in the U.S. The son of Preservationist (Arch) ran a much better race in the Kentucky Derby than the bare result. He has enough talent and enough speed to win an important race.

Races around the country will be the richer from the participation of hardy racers like these searching for opportunities that fit their talents.

This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.