Breeders' Cup 2013 Odds: Dark-Horse Candidates for Saturday's Big Race

It's funny how we're always surprised when underdogs win big events.

On paper, there's no way David should have been able to slay Goliath, but once the battle began, all it took was one pebble to take down the greatest warrior on an ancient battlefield. 

So it has been since the dawn of time. In nature, in sports and in life, it's not always the "best" candidates that end up winning the prize. 

There are a few dark-horse candidates in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Classic capable of similarly toppling the heavy favorites on Saturday at Santa Anita Park.

Here's a quick breakdown of where all 12 horses will start, along with the current odds, followed by a closer look at a few underdogs with a shot of winning this prestigious race. 

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Last Gunfighter	Javier Castellano	Chad Brown	20-1
2	Paynter	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	12-1
3	Planteur	Ryan Moore	Marco Botti	20-1
4	Moreno	Joseph Talamo	Eric Guillot	15-1
5	Declaration Of War	Joseph O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	10-1
6	Mucho Macho Man	Gary Stevens	Kathy Ritvo	5-1
7	Fort Larned	Brian Hernandez Jr.	Ian Wilkes	6-1
8	Palace Malice	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	10-1
9	Game On Dude	Mike Smith	Bob Baffert	8-5
10	Will Take Charge	Luis Saez	D. Wayne Lukas	12-1
11	Ron the Greek	Jose Lezcano	William Mott	8-1
12	Flat Out	Joel Rosario	William Mott	12-1

Paynter

The fact that Paynter is even racing on Saturday is a miracle. This horse has endured a serious illness that could have cost its life to make it back to the highest level of racing competition, as noted by Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times. 

In four starts this year after taking nearly a year off with the illness, Paynter has one victory and two second-place finishes. The horse's most impressive win came back in 2012 at the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.

Larry Zap liked what he saw from Paynter recently, saying he "looked fantastic":

Though oddsmakers aren't as high on Paynter as the favorites, this horse is surely capable of winning on Saturday. 

Will Take Charge

Will Take Charge is a familiar name to those who watched the Triple Crown races earlier this year, as the horse ran in all three races, finishing no higher than seventh place. 

After taking nearly two months off to recover, however, Will Take Charge has ripped off three straight top-two finishes, including two wins in a row heading into this race.

Winning the Travers Stakes was the highlight for this horse in 2013. Coming from behind down the home stretch to overtake Moreno, Will Take Charge displayed an impressive burst and stamina at the end when it mattered most. 

Moreno

One of the more active horses in this race, Moreno has already racked up 11 starts this year, winning just two races—most notably the Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes back in July.

A pure speed horse that sometimes has trouble pacing in the early goings, Moreno drew an unfavorable post, according to trainer Eric Guillot, as noted by Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form:

As we saw from Moreno's performance at the 2013 Travers Stakes, Will Take Charge was able to overtake him down the stretch. Strong closers have an edge over this sprinter, and as such, it will truly be a shock if Moreno ends up winning this race. 

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