NEWS
Mine That Bird arrives at Churchill Downs
Posted: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 4:07 PM
MINE THAT BIRD
Photo by Kelly Dennington
by Jeff Lowe
Mine That Bird completed his van journey from New Mexico to Churchill Downs on Thursday night, the same trip he made before his giant upset in the 2009 Kentucky Derby President by Yum! Brands (G1).
Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. was not behind the wheel, however, after owners Mark Allen and Leonard Blach, D.V.M., decided to transfer the gelding to Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
“There were economic reasons, and we just thought it was the best thing for the horse to make a change,” Blach said Wednesday. “Usually you do that because it’s in the best interest of the horse or you think that you can improve upon what you’re doing, just like Bob Baffert did in the Preakness [Stakes (G1)], changing jockeys, and it showed that he made the right move.”
Allen accompanied Mine That Bird on the trip that included a stopover in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They arrived at Churchill early Thursday night.
“He’s such a gutty little competitor,” said Lukas. “Looking at him here taking his bath, I think he looks better than I’ve ever seen him. The time off has really served him well. He looks better to me right now, and talking to the people who’ve been around him, I think he’s doing better right now than he has. So, I’ve got a little bit of an edge there. I’m getting a nice horse with some good condition in him—I’m very pleased with what I see. For a horse that just got off a 12-hour van ride, that rascal looks pretty damned good.”
Blach and Lukas have known each other for several decades dating back to Lukas’s previous career in Quarter Horse racing.
“I used to do some vet work for him at Ruidoso Downs, and I just think he has the credentials that Mark and I were looking for--a Hall of Fame trainer with the success that he has had,” Blach said. “It was good for the horse and probably a step up for us.”
Mine That Bird returned to training in mid-March at Allen’s Double Eagle Training Center in Roswell, New Mexico, where he spent a winter break after a ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). He closed 2009 with five straight defeats, on the heels of his 50.60-to-1 triumph by 6¾ lengths in the Derby.
Mine That Bird finished second in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and third in the Belmont Stakes (G1).
“Chip has done a wonderful job for us,” Blach said. “He won the Kentucky Derby for us, and we all had a great experience and a great time. Chip has been a great ambassador for racing and we appreciate that. We still appreciate him. He still trains horses for Mark out here.
“We just decided that he has a stable of horses out here that he needs to look after and it was the best move for this horse to step up one grade and go forward.”
Woolley told Daily Racing Form that he did not understand the decision.
“But I guess it’s not for me to understand,” he said.
Blach said the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs is the long-term target for Mine That Bird.
“I think with the training we have in him here—Lukas will be able to tell in about 45 or 60 days—we can maybe get him in an allowance race and get a win back on his mind,” Blach said. “The Breeders’ Cup is what we’re kind of pointing for, but we don’t have anything else in mind just yet.”
Allen and Blach are sending along a camera that enabled web visitors at www.minethatbird.com to watch the gelding in his stall over the winter.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
