Breeders' Cup 2011: Uncle Mo Will Prove Himself as Horse of the Year

Uncle Mo is going to bring in some more hardware at the 2011 Breeders' Cup on November 5th.

This horse has a lot to prove in this race, and will rise to the occasion.

Uncle Mo missed the Triple Crown chase with an illness in the liver that knocked him out for four months. He finally returned to the track at Grade Two Kelso and cruised to victory.

He dominated the lesser talent, and is now set to return to his elite status when he hits the Breeders' Cup. The victory won't come easy, but the chances of this horse even getting back on the track this year looked slim earlier this year.

He is going to face some elite horses, including Havre de Grace, Flat Out, California star Game On Dude and So You Think from Europe.

Havre de Grace has won three Grade One races this season, which puts her in line for Horse of the Year right now. If Uncle Mo wins this race, he has a legitimate chance at bringing home the title.

Uncle Mo's owner Mike Repole spoke with ESPN about what a win would mean for his horse,

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If Uncle Mo wins the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he’s not only the Horse of the Year, he should be ESPN’s Athlete of the Year. What he’ll do and what he’ll overcome is an accomplishment that’s amazing even outside of horse racing.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic is Uncle Mo’s Kentucky Derby. The Kelso was his redemption race. Before that he had been a super 2-year-old and an overhyped 3-year-old. But after the Kelso he was a wow horse again. You watched him and you said ‘wow.’ And now if he can win the Classic after all he’s been through, he’d have to be recognized as one of the greatest horses of all time. When we scratched him from the Kentucky Derby what were the odds that he would even run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic? A hundred-to-one? And to win it? A thousand-to-one?

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Mo is going to overcome all of this. This is his race to win. He won at the Breeders' Cup last year, and is going to win again this year. Mo should be named Horse of the Year at the end of the day, in large part because of the heroic effort just to get back on the track and win the biggest event of the year.

This is Uncle Mo's time to shine.