Breeders' Cup 2011: So You Think Won't Live Up to Dark-Horse Billing

Much has been made about So You Think's chances in Saturday's $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

The 5-year-old finished 2010 on a roll, winning four consecutive Group I races and ending the season with a third-place finish in the Melbourne Cup.

This year, So You Think scored three Group I victories in Europe  in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, Coral Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes before suffering a crushing neck defeat in the Prince of Wales at Royal Ascot.

So You Think has certainly been successful for the last two years, which is why several experts have the thoroughbred actually winning Saturday's big race.

But So You Think is bound for disappointment.

Going up against top competition like Uncle Mo, Havre de Grace and Flat Out, there are some troubling signs for So You Think.

For one, he has never raced on a dirt track. So You Think has trained on dirt in Australia, but that's entirely different than an actual race.

Two, So You Think has been outfitted with blinkers leading up to the Classic, in part because, according to trainer Aidan O'Brien, "He's just gone very lazy."

O'Brien doesn't deny that So You Think has lost focus at times on the track.

Said O'Brien, via Kentucky.com:

"

"I suppose the first time we saw it was (in the Irish Champion Stakes) where he waited, he was going too relaxed."

"

Simply cruising may work for So You Think at the Irish Champion Stakes, but at the Classic it's going to be an entirely different story. Both Uncle Mo and Havre de Grace are racing for Horse of the Year honors.

On top of all of this, O'Brien doesn't exactly have the best track record in the Classic. He's 0-for-11 in the race and hasn't won a Breeders' Cup race since 2003.

All of this adds up to a bevy of obstacles before Saturday's race.

Too many obstacles, in fact, for So You Think to carry the dark-horse label.