2011 Breeders Cup: Stay Thirsty and Flat Out Will Challenge Uncle Mo in Classic

Uncle Mo is coming off a career-best Beyer rating in his last outing at Belmont and is the favorite to claim the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic. However, there's no shortage of competitors for the $5 million purse, so Uncle Mo should expect a stiff challenge on Saturday.

There have been concerns about the distance, which is a quarter-mile more than his Kelso triumph in early October. With that in mind, here are the three horses that will be Uncle Mo's biggest competition at Churchill Downs.

Havre de Grace

While Goldikova, who is racing in the Breeders' Cup Mile, is the filly stealing headlines, Havre de Grace is pretty darn good in her own right. She's won five of her last six races and had no problem outrunning her male counterparts in September.

In 13 career starts, Havre de Grace hasn't finished outside the money, including seven wins. The sire of Saint Liam, who was the American Horse of the Year in 2005, should have no trouble keeping pace and could very well pull off the upset.

Flat Out

Even though Flat Out has done his best work at Belmont, the transition to Churchill Downs isn't enough to discount him. He's topped 100 on the Beyer scale four straight times and won his last race, which was at the same distance as the Classic in October.

He's trained by Charles “Scooter” Dickey, who considers the Classic contender among the best horses he's ever worked with. Rightfully so, as proven by Flat Out's awesome workout numbers during the build up to Saturday.

Stay Thirsty

A popular name among horse racing fans, Stay Thirsty has been in several big races this season. That includes the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and the Travers. He's won two of his last three starts and finished in third or better in every race since the first leg of the Triple Crown.

The main reason he's a contender is his improvement. His Beyer numbers have vastly improved since last year and he should be used to the distance, which you can't say for some of his foes. Stay Thirsty might be overvalued based on people playing with their hearts, but he'll be there at the end.