Grade 3 winner Name Changer, winner here of the 2018 Queens County at Aqueduct, will stand the 2021 season at Kaz Hill Farm in Middletown. NYRA Photo.
Graded stakes winner Name Changer became the latest son of emerging sire of sires Uncle Mo to join the stallion ranks in New York this week when he retired to Peter Kazamias’ Kaz Hill Farm in Middletown, N.Y. for the 2021 season.
The 7-year-old out of the stakes-winning Northern Afleet mare Cash’s Girl will stand for $2,500 live foal, stands and nurses, as property of Kaz Hill Farm. A limited number of lifetime breeding rights are available.
“Anyone paying attention to the leading sire lists knows something big is happening when it comes to Uncle Mo,” Kazamias said. “Not only does Uncle Mo himself have 14 graded stakes winners in 2020, more than any other stallion in the United States, but his sons Nyquist, Laoban and Outwork rank first, second and fourth on the North American leading first-crop sire list. With a powerful build reminiscent of his sire, and his undeniable racing class, it’s easy to imagine Name Changer carrying on that tradition.”
Laoban previously stood in New York before relocating to WinStar Farm in Kentucky for 2021. King for a Day, another stakes-winning son of Uncle Mo, will enter stud in New York next year.
Name Changer won eight of 24 starts with two seconds and eight thirds for $567,080 in earnings. Bred and raced by Richard Santulli’s Colts Neck Stables and trained during his career by Alan Goldberg and his successor with Colts Neck’s runners, Jorge Duarte, Jr., Name Changer won the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup Stakes in 2018 at Monmouth Park and finished third in the Grade 2 West Virginia Derby in 2016 at Mountaineer Park.
Name Changer won two other stakes during his career, the 2016 Richard W. Small at Laurel Park and the 2018 Queens County at Aqueduct, and placed in five other stakes including the Richard W. Small in his career finale Nov. 28.
“He always showed up – the way the best offspring of Uncle Mo do,” Goldberg said. “Colts Neck Stables retained some breeding rights, and we’re planning to send our New York-based mares to him.”
Bloodstock agent Michael Slezak, Kaz Hill’s manager of bloodstock, brokered the deal to purchase Name Changer. He said the parallels between Uncle Mo and Name Changer make him a strong stallion prospect.
“Uncle Mo’s maiden win going 6 furlongs at Saratoga as a 2-year-old, that has to rank as one of the greatest debuts in the history of the sport,” he said. “Similarly, Name Changer showed the ability to win first time out as a 2-year-old at the same 6-furlong distance – which really caught our attention. At the same time, Name Changer was still hitting the board in stakes company in November of his 7-year-old season – and that’s a big selling point for smaller operations who rely on New York State breeders’ awards and are trying to get runners who stay sound and competitive over multiple racing seasons.”
Slezak said he’d be scouting mares for Name Changer’s initial book at the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale and the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky February mixed sale.
“Kaz Hill already has a very deep broodmare band, but we want to make sure Name Changer gets the best possible start at stud,” Slezak said.
