Record 193 horses pre-entered to Breeders' Cup

Record 193 horses pre-entered to Breeders' Cup; race order

switched

Breeders' Cup has released a record 193 pre-entries -- including 29 from

overseas -- for the 2011 World Championships at Churchill Downs on November 4-5.

The top storylines will center around Goldikova's bid for an unprecedented

fourth straight win in the Mile; and the showdown between the outstanding filly

Havre de Grace, 2010 Juvenile champion Uncle Mo and international superstar So

You Think in the Classic.

The 28th Breeders' Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing's most

prestigious global event, consisting of 15 races and purses totaling $26 million

over the two-day event, will be held at Churchill Downs for a record eighth time

this year. The Juvenile Sprint, an open race for two-year-olds at six furlongs,

has been added to the Breeders' Cup program this year, and will be the first

race on Championship Friday.

The Breeders' Cup will be televised live on ABC/ESPN and in more than 130

foreign countries.

Following the closing of pre-entries on Monday and Tuesday's meeting of the

Racing Directors/ Secretaries Panel, Breeders' Cup has moved the $2 million Mile

to the 10TH race on Saturday's program, switching it with the $3 million Turf,

which will now be run as the 8TH race. The $2 million Juvenile will now be run

as the 9TH race on the Saturday program, and the Dirt Mile will now be run as

the 7TH race.

"Due to the heightened international interest in Goldikova's quest for an

unprecedented fourth consecutive TVG Breeders' Cup Mile, we believe that moving

the Mile to later in Saturday's program will provide a fitting tribute to this

extraordinary challenge," said Craig Fravel, president and CEO of Breeders' Cup

Ltd. "Given the Triple Crown implications of the Grey Goose Breeders' Cup

Juvenile, we also believe that placing this race later in the program puts the

spotlight on next year's potential stars going into their three-year-old

campaigns."

Breeders' Cup official race order:

Friday, November 4

Race #		Race		Time (ET)
5		Juvenile Sprint		4:10 p.m.
6		Grade 2 Juvenile Fillies Turf		4:50 p.m.
7		Grade 1 Filly & Mare Sprint		5:30 p.m.
8		Grade 1 Juvenile Fillies		6:10 p.m.
9		Grade 1 Filly & Mare Turf		6:50 p.m.
10		Grade 1 Ladies' Classic		7:30 p.m.

Saturday, November 5

Race #		Race		Time (ET)
3		Grade 2 Marathon		1:20 p.m.
4		Grade 2 Juvenile Turf		2:02 p.m.
5		Grade 1 Sprint		2:37 p.m.
6		Grade 2 Turf Sprint		3:21 p.m.
7		Grade 1 Dirt Mile		4:01 p.m.
8		Grade 1 Turf		4:45 p.m.
9		Grade 1 Juvenile		5:25 p.m.
10		Grade 1 Mile		6:07 p.m.
11		Grade 1 Classic		7:00 p.m.

The climactic event of the Breeders' Cup is the $5 million Breeders' Cup

Classic at 1 1/4 miles on the main track. Following last year's epic battle with

Blame edging out the previously unbeaten mare Zenyatta, this year's Classic

features another sensational female star in the four-year-old filly Havre de

Grace, who will compete against the best male dirt horses in the world in her

quest for the Horse of the Year title.

Owned by Rick Porter's Fox Hill Farm and trained by Larry Jones, Havre de

Grace has posted five victories in six starts, including a powerful win over

male rivals in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga.

Mike Repole owns two three-year-old Classic pre-entrants in Uncle Mo, winner

of last year's Juvenile at Churchill Downs, and Grade 1 Travers Stakes winner

Stay Thirsty, both trained by America's leading trainer Todd Pletcher. Uncle Mo

was the future book Kentucky Derby favorite after a three-for-three juvenile

campaign but was beaten at 1-10 in Aqueduct's Grade 1 Wood Memorial in April and

then scratched days before the Derby with what was eventually diagnosed as a

liver infection. The son of Indian Charlie resurfaced at Saratoga in the Grade 1

King's Bishop, running a strong second, and then blitzed his rivals in Belmont's

Grade 2 Kelso on October 1, running a mile in a sterling 1:33 4/5. Uncle Mo, who

is five-for-seven lifetime, will attempt 1 1/4 miles for the first time. Stay

Thirsty emerged from his more heralded stablemate's shadow during the summer,

when he was second in the Belmont and then won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Travers

at Saratoga.

Uncle Mo is one of eight returning or former Breeders' Cup Champions

pre-entered. The others are Big Drama, California Flag, Chamberlain Bridge, 

Eldaafer, Goldikova, Midday and Shared Account.

Among the top older males pre-entered for the Classic are Game On Dude, who

won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March and returned there earlier this

month to capture the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes. The four-year-old son of 1998

Classic winner Awesome Again, is trained by Bob Baffert, who is seeking his

first Classic win. Game on Dude will be ridden by Chantal Sutherland, who will

look to become the first female rider  to win the Classic.

Preston Stable's Flat Out was the first of the Classic horses to arrive at

Churchill when he settled in on October 12. The five-year-old son of Flatter

earned an automatic starting position into the Classic by winning the Grade 1

Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park for trainer Charles "Scooter" Dickey. Flat

Out, who also won the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap in July, is one of 35

pre-entered horses to qualify for this year's Breeders' Cup through the

Breeders' Cup Challenge series.

Castleton Lyons's six-year-old Gio Ponti, has been pre-entered in both the

Classic and the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile. Gio Ponti comes into the Breeders' Cup

off a stirring win in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile. Gio Ponti finished second

to Zenyatta in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita and was second to

Goldikova in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile.

The New Zealand-bred So You Think will contest the Classic for trainer Aidan

O'Brien. The five-year-old son of two-time Breeders' Cup Turf winner High

Chaparral has been an international superstar, winning eight Group 1 events in

Australia, England and Ireland. This year, So You Think has won three Group 1

races -- the Tattarsalls Gold Cup, the Coral Eclipse and the Red Mills Irish

Champion Stakes.

This year's Classic pre-entrants also include the last two winners of the

Belmont Stakes, Ruler on Ice and Drosselmeyer.

The top international superstar of this year's Breeders' Cup is Alain and

Gerard Wertheimer's Goldikova, who returns to Churchill Downs for trainer Freddy

Head. The six-year-old Goldikova has won 14 Grade/Group 1 races in her career,

including two-of-five starts at the highest level in France and England this

year.

The Turf at 1 1/2 miles is led by

another female in the four-year-old filly Sarafina, winner of three stakes races

this year including the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud for trainer Alain de

Royer-Dupre, who trained the inaugural 1984 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Lashkari.

Group 1 Coronation Stakes winner St. Nicholas Abbey and 2009 Emirates Airline

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Midday have also been pre-entered.

Championship Friday will include six Breeders' Cup races, five of which are

restricted to females. Friday's highlight is the $2 million Ladies' Classic at 1

1/8 miles. This year's edition is a wide open affair of Grade 1 winners led by

the three-year-old Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty for trainer Bob Baffert; the

Bill Mott-trained Royal Delta, winner of both the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan and

Grade 1 Alabama Stakes; and It's Tricky, who posted Grade 1 wins in the Coaching

Club American Oaks and Acorn Stakes for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. The older

females are headed by Aruna who finished strongly when winning the Grade 1

Spinster at Keeneland in her last start for trainer Graham Motion; Ask the Moon,

who captured both the Grade 1 Personal Ensign and Grade 1 Ruffian at Saratoga in

front-running fashion; and the fast-closing West Coast mare Ultra Blend.

Shared Account is back to defend her title in the $2 million Filly & Mare

Turf following her stunning 2010 upset at odds of 46-1. Owned by Under Armour

chairman Kevin Plank's Sagamore Farm, Shared Account will face a stellar,

international field in this year's renewal of the 1 3/8 mile race.  Her

main foes include Stacelita and Nahrain. Both Sarafina and Midday have also been

pre-entered for the Turf.

The $2 million Juvenile Fillies at 1 1/16 miles is shaping up as an East-West

battle of two unbeaten fillies in My Miss Aurelia, a five-length winner of

Belmont's Grade 1 Frizette for trainer Steve Asmussen and Weemissfrankie, who

captured the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita.

On Saturday, the male counterpart race to the Juvenile Fillies, the Juvenile

at 1  1/16 miles, features Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes winner Creative Cause,

who defeated the Bob Baffert-trained Drill, winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar

Futurity. The Chadds Ford Stable of Phyllis Wyeth has pre-entered the undefeated

Union Rags, who dominated the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park by more

than five lengths. Union Rags is trained by Michael Matz.

Defending Sprint champion Big Drama is back seeking another crown in the

six-furlong race. Trained by David Fawkes, the four-year-old has won both of his

starts this year. His expected challengers include Giant Ryan, a winner of six

in a row, most recently a front running victory in the Grade 1 Vosburgh; and

Amazombie, a fast-closing winner of the Grade 1 Ancient Title at Santa Anita.

Sixteen horses have been pre-entered for the $1 million Dirt Mile, including

Preakness winner Shackleford for trainer Dale Romans, and fellow three year olds

The Factor, a winner of four races this year including the Grade 1 Pat O'Brien

at Del Mar and Caleb's Posse, who defeated Uncle Mo in the King's Bishop at

Saratoga.

California Flag, winner of the 2009 Turf Sprint and last year's winner,

Chamberlain Bridge, have both been pre-entered for this year's edition at five

furlongs for a $1 million purse.

Eldaafer, trained by Diane Alvarado, is also back to defend his title in the

Breeders' Cup Marathon at 1 3/4 miles, the first race on Saturday program.

A maximum of 14 starters are allowed in each of the 15 Breeders' Cup World

Championships races. Breeders' Cup Limited has adopted a field selection system

to select runners in the event fields are oversubscribed. This system ranks

horses in order of preference based on (a) Breeders' Cup Challenge race winners,

(b) a point system, and (c) the judgment of a panel of racing experts. 

Entry for the Breeders' Cup World Championships races will be Monday by 10

a.m. (ET).  At the time of entry, a maximum of 14 horses will be accepted

for each race based on the order of preference established at pre-entry. 

There will be up to two also-eligible horses for each Championship race. The

also-eligible horses will be designated in accordance with the Breeders' Cup

Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel's order of preference for each Championship

race that is oversubscribed at the time of pre-entry.