2011 Breeders Cup: Why Uncle Mo Will Win Breeders' Cup Classic

Uncle Mo has been through a lot this season, but it all will be worth it when he wins the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs in Kentucky.

Uncle Mo, the favorite in the historic race, has the chance to be named Horse of the Year, the same year he's been diagnosed with gastrointestinal infection and cholangiohepatitis, a rare liver disease.

The favorite in the Kentucky Derby, he was forced to pull out.

Now Uncle Mo is set to rebound in a storybook way.

Uncle Mo returned to the track at Grade Two Kelso on Oct. 1 and proved he's ready to race again. He blew away the field, winning by three lengths and completing the one-mile in 1:33.82 on a muddy track at Belmont Park.

The strategy?

Free Uncle Mo.

Said jockey John Velasquez after the race, via ESPN:

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"They told me to let him go and to leave him alone, so I just let him do whatever he wanted to do. I had plenty of horse, so when I asked him to run, he was there for me."

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The strategy is likely to be similar in Saturday's race, as Uncle Mo got stronger as the race went on at Kelso.

According to trainer Todd Pletcher, Uncle Mo has "trained brilliantly" since the King's Bishop.

Said owner Mike Repole, via ESPN:

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“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?

“You want to see a moment that will stick with you for years and that’s what Uncle Mo can give you in the Classic.”

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And he will.

Uncle Mo is finally living up to his potential and he's soaring at just the right time. He's racing like a top horse right now and the rest of the field, including Havre de Grace, Flat Out, Game On Dude and So You Think, is going to have a hard time catching up to him.

Uncle Mo knows this is his moment to shine, and leave all his past turmoil behind him.