2009 Kentucky Derby Winner
May 10 - Mine That Bird
The story begins on the Tuesday night before the Kentucky Derby, the night of the Trainer's Dinner. I was seated with the mcs Chris Lincoln and Paul Rogers. We noticed the table beside us was filling up with these guys all in black and most had on cowboy hats. If we were cats, we would have died as we were overwhelmed with curiosity, and I was the one tasked with gathering the intel on the situation. I walked up to the table feeling very confident that I had a pretty good handle on all the horses in the field - "Who's your horse?" and they replied - MINE THAT BIRD. I was blank, I hadn't even studied the horse. I had nothing except a polite encouragement as I could offer - "Good luck!"
I returned to our table and Chris looked at me with inquiring eyes. "Mine That Bird". Hmmm…
When it was time for Mine That Bird's trainer to speak, Chip Woolley approached the stage on crutches. When he got to the stage, he set his crutches aside and hopped on one leg onto the stage that was three to four feet off the ground! Impressive . . .
Then, Chip hopped over to the mic and proclaimed that they had the best horse, the best jockey, and they were going to win the damn race. The room was mostly silent, with a few chuckles. Somebody at our table whispered, "I wonder who peed in his cereal?"
If only I had my wits about me and realized that Mine That Bird was sired by Birdstone, who I had painted for Marylou Whitney, that would have been a nice conversation starter, especially this being Birdstone's first foal crop. But no; just "Good luck" and slithered away.
We know now that Mine That Bird won at 50-1 odds and in the process became an instant legend. They even made a movie about Bird called 50-1. Watch the movie and you start to see how all week long building up to the Derby that Team Mine That Bird was disrespected everywhere they went. To answer the question, I guess we all were the ones that peed in their cereal and before the week was over, that Bird made us all eat crow.
Mine That Bird was the gelding longshot who pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in the history of the Kentucky Derby. He was foaled in 2006 and trained by Bennie Woolley Jr. for owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Leonard Blach of Buena Suerte Equine. His sire was Birdstone, the 2004 Belmont Stakes winner who had stopped Smarty Jones from sweeping the Triple Crown, and his dam was Mining My Own, a daughter of Smart Strike. He was a small dark bay gelding with a quick turn of foot.
Mine That Bird had run as a two year old in Canada, where he won three stakes and was named the 2008 Canadian Champion Two Year Old Male. His connections moved him south for his three year old year, but he was nothing special in his early Kentucky Derby preps, finishing fourth in the Borderland Derby and last in his last race before the Derby. He earned just enough qualifying money to be in the field.
The story of his Kentucky Derby trip became part of racing legend. Bennie Woolley Jr. drove Mine That Bird himself from New Mexico to Louisville in a horse trailer, hauling his Derby starter behind a pickup truck. He went off at 50 to 1 in the 2009 Kentucky Derby, the longest priced winner in the race in many years. Ridden by Calvin Borel, Mine That Bird sat last for most of the way, then slipped through a gap on the rail and unleashed an incredible run, winning by 6 and three quarter lengths over Pioneerof the Nile, Musket Man, and others.
Two weeks later in the 2009 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, Mine That Bird ran second behind the great filly Rachel Alexandra in another thrilling race. He came back at the Belmont Stakes and finished third behind his half brother Summer Bird. He retired with 5 wins from 18 starts and earnings of over 2.2 million dollars. Mine That Bird lived out his retirement at his owners' New Mexico ranch and later at the Kentucky Horse Park. He is remembered as the small longshot who beat the world on the first Saturday in May, the gritty gelding from New Mexico who shocked the racing world.
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