Havre de Grace to take on boys in Breeders’

Associated Press

St. Louis, Mo.

Havre de Grace is going where Zenyatta once did, taking on the boys in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The 4-year-old filly is 5-of-6 this year and a victory could burnish her credentials for Horse of the Year, although Uncle Mo and Flat Out loom as major threats.

A record total of 193 horses, including 29 from overseas, were pre-entered Wednesday for the $26 million, 15-race Breeders’ Cup world championships at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 4-5. That tops last year’s total of 184.

Todd Pletcher leads all trainers with 15 horses pre-entered, followed by Irishman Aidan O’Brien with 14 and Hall of Famer Bob Baffert with 11.

Havre de Grace was pre-entered in the 11/4-mile Classic, along with 13 others, including Uncle Mo, Travers winner Stay Thirsty, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Flat Out, Santa Anita Handicap winner Game On Dude, European star So You Think, Belmont Stakes winner Ruler on Ice and 2010 Belmont winner Drosselmeyer.

Other pre-entries in the Classic are Await the Dawn, Headache, Prayer for Relief, Rattlesnake Bridge and To Honor and Serve.

Havre de Grace’s owner Rick Porter also entered his filly in the $2 million Ladies’ Classic as an insurance policy.

“The only reason we wouldn’t run in the Classic is if we drew the 1 hole or if we saw a complete difference in the weather on Friday and Saturday,” he said on a conference call.

Final entries and the post-position draw will be Monday.

Uncle Mo surely counts as one of the sporting world’s more remarkable comeback stories of the year. The 3-year-old colt was the early Kentucky Derby favorite before being sidelined after the first loss of his career in the Wood Memorial. He was out for 4 1-2 months with a life-threatening liver disease that caused him to lose 200 pounds.

“Losing 200 pounds in May and June, gaining weight back and now competing at such a high level, it takes not just a super horse but one of the greatest of all time if he’s able to do it,” owner Mike Repole said. “Uncle Mo has never looked better, has never trained better. This is the Uncle Mo we thought we’d see the whole 3-year-old season.”

Uncle Mo will be running 1 1-4 miles for the first time on Nov. 5, but Repole doesn’t think he’s asking the colt for too much.

“This is no ordinary horse. This is a pretty special horse,” he said. “If any horse in the history of racing can accomplish it, it’s Uncle Mo. I think the fans, media and ESPN and the Breeders’ Cup wants it.”

Repole has another shot to win the Classic in Stay Thirsty.

Flat Out was the first Classic entrant to arrive in Louisville. He’s trained by 70-year-old Charles “Scooter” Dickey.

Among trainers, Pletcher, O’Brien, Baffert and Bill Mott will all saddle two horses in the Classic, which lost Tizway to injury on Monday.

Game On Dude will attempt to give Baffert his first victory in the Classic, along with Chantal Sutherland, who could become the first woman jockey to win. One of the horse’s co-owners is retired Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre.

Gio Ponti was pre-entered in both the Classic and the $2 million Mile. The 6-year-old European star finished second to Zenyatta in the 2009 Classic and was second to Goldikova in last year’s Mile at Churchill, which is hosting horse racing’s richest two days for a record eighth time and second year in a row.