Breeders Cup 2011 Contenders

Breeders Cup 2011 contenders will not be determined until the days leading up to the big race, however, TwinSpires.com has already posted odds on a number of horses.  Those with the shortest odds are the contenders most likely to make the cut. 

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Uncle Mo – 2/1 odds- He covered the five furlongs in a rapid 58.42 in his Belmont workout this week.

"We didn't set out to go quite that fast, it's just an indication of how well he's doing at the moment,'' trainer Todd Pletcher said. "It's not like he was being asked to do it. We're trying to get a horse fit to go a mile and a quarter with a seven-eighths and a mile race under his belt. We got to make sure we do enough. I think we made a big step in that direction today.''

So You Think was coming in with early 4/1 odds, however, these odds are likely to be longer come race time. 

He has raced twice in October.  The Breeders Cup Classic would be his third race in just six weeks. 

So You Think is a two-time Cox Plate winner in Australia and has also won group I stakes in England and Ireland.

"He could have won three Cox Plates but we wanted to take on the world," co-owner Dato Tan Chin Nam said in the story. "He has showcased Australian racing to the world and showed that we can match them. It has taken two course records to beat him [in his last two starts].

"I hope he can go better in America."

Await the Dawn was coming in at 4/1 odds early on and, again, we should see longer odds after the post positions are announced a few days prior to the race. 

The Hardwicke Stakes winner was so sick after his Juddmonte International appearance in August that he almost died, according to the Irish Times.

“You wouldn’t believe how well Await The Dawn has come along as he nearly died 48 hours after his run at York,” Trainer Aidan O’Brien reported.

Havre de Grace had 5/1 odds.  She is trained by J. Larry Jones.  Havre de Grace made her four-year-old debut in the Azeri Stakes on March 19 with a victory over Blind Luck.  She will attempt to join Zenyatta to become only the second female racehorse to win the richest horse race in North America.

Other 2011 Breeders Cup contenders included the following: 

Pants on Fire 4/1

Blind Luck 5/1

Flat Out 6/1

Santiva 6/1

Ruler on Ice 6/1

Tizway 6/1

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com