2011 Breeders Cup Draw: To Honor and Serve a Sneaky Contender

If you're looking for a dark horse in the 2011 Breeders' Cup, look no further than To Honor and Serve.

The Live Oak Plantation colt was largely considered the second-best 2-year-old behind favorite Uncle Mo in this year's Kentucky Derby, only to miss the race with a soft-tissue problem.

It may be fitting that Uncle Mo also missed the race with a gastrointestinal infection because both thoroughbreds will be raring to go coming off injuries in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 5. They may just be the leading horses down the stretch.

To Honor and Serve's greatest strength is long-distance racing, and he turned in a strong workout on Sunday, posting a five-furlongs time of 1:00.40 for trainer Bill Mott.

Said Mott after the workout, via the New York Times:

"

“We let him go off a little quicker today, so ultimately it was a little bit of a faster work. The gallop out was very good, and I thought everything worked out very well.”

"

Very well indeed.

To Honor and Serve has the ability to sneak up on the rest of the competition. While there are still concerns about Uncle Mo's long-distance ability, there aren't similar concerns about To Honor and Serve.

It's worth noting that To Honor and Serve is coming off a victory at the Pennsylvania Derby, where the colt set the stakes record of 1:47.34.

To Honor and Serve is also the 2010 Remsen winner and won three out of four starts as a 2-year-old.

If you're looking for a a horse that could potentially win big for you, sneak in your bet for To Honor and Serve.