Post by Peter Gross on May 2, 2009 20:50:29 GMT -5
Well, I certainly didn't pick Mine that Bird to win the Kentucky Derby. Truth is, I did everything I could to dissuade anyone from betting on it. Yesterday, in a 680News report I filed on the Kentucky Derby field, I spent all of half a second, throwing Mine that Bird in the refuse heap as a horse that had no chance.
In the press room, as post time approached and I doubled up on my action on Dunkirk and Regal Ransom, my friend Eleanor told me she wanted to bet $2 to show on Mine that Bird.
"Are you nuts?" I responded and then pushed her face in the form to show her how Mine that Bird was winless in 2009, how Mine that Bird had never run as fast as most of the horses in this race, how Mine that Bird had Beyer figures so much below almost every other horse in this race that he would probably have trouble finishing in the top 10...of the next race. My arguments were clearly powerful and persuasive; Eleanor bet her $2 on another horse.
Anyway, what Mine that Bird and his jockey Calvin Borel did pretty well defies logic, but it makes for the greatest horse racing story in decades. While most in the bulky field of 19 were thrashing into each other or spinning their heels in the greasy muddy surface, Mine that Bird was far behind, but on the inside, and when Borel spoke to his horse, he got an amazing answer. Mine that Bird started passing horses along the rail; from the remarkable overhead camera, it looked as if the entire field - but one- was standing still. When Mine that Bird cleared the final horse in mid-stretch (with maybe an inch to spare between his left flank and the rail), the most astonishing Derby surprise in modern times was about to be written.
Mine that Bird went off at 50.60 on the dollar and paid $103.20, a little bit more than Giacomo ($102.60)did in 2005. There are two very strong Canadian connections to this horse. He was originally purchased for $9500 by Woodbine trainer David Cotey. Mine that Bird did not at first indicate world championship form; he was an unremarkable 5th, beaten nine lengths in his maiden race, in which he went off at odds of 15-1. He won his next outing under jockey Constant Montpellier and paid $20.30 to win. Next time out he ran in the Silver Deputy stakes and with Chantal Sutherland at the helm, Mine that Bird won by two lengths at 10-1. He then captured the Swynford Stakes and the G3 Grey Stakes in succession, a sequence that led him to being named the Jockey Club of Canada's Sovereign Award winner in 2008 as Best Two Year-Old. When Cotey was offered over $400,000 for the horse, he gladly sold him. When Mine that Bird was a distanced 12th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile race last fall at Santa Anita, his owners offered to let Cotey buy him back for less. Cotey turned down the offer.
Mine that Bird's odds on the first Saturday in May had everything to do with his past performance chart. He had raced twice at Sunland Park in New Mexico ( where Kentucky Derby horses never come from) and the results did not earn him comparisons with Big Brown. He was second, then fourth and his times were ordinary, at least when compared to Pioneerof the Nile, Dunkirk, Friesan Fire, Papa Clem, Chocolate Candy, West Side Bernie, General Quarters and pretty well every other horse in the race.
But Calvin Borel is on fire at Churchill. The day before he had won the Kentucky Oaks for three year-old fillies. He was on a brilliant filly called Rachel Alexandra, who won by over 20 lengths as the huge odds-on favourite. By doubling up in the Derby, Borel is the first jockey since Jerry Bailey pulled off the trick in 1993, to win both the Oaks and Derby.
The payoffs generated by the surprising win were life-changing. The exactor with Pioneerof the Nile paid $2074.80, the tri was worth $41,500 and the superfecta (the top four horses) returned $557,006.
And just for the record, the horses that I did, in fact recommend were Dunkirk (11th), Regal Ransom (8th) and Chocolate Candy (5th).
In the press room, as post time approached and I doubled up on my action on Dunkirk and Regal Ransom, my friend Eleanor told me she wanted to bet $2 to show on Mine that Bird.
"Are you nuts?" I responded and then pushed her face in the form to show her how Mine that Bird was winless in 2009, how Mine that Bird had never run as fast as most of the horses in this race, how Mine that Bird had Beyer figures so much below almost every other horse in this race that he would probably have trouble finishing in the top 10...of the next race. My arguments were clearly powerful and persuasive; Eleanor bet her $2 on another horse.
Anyway, what Mine that Bird and his jockey Calvin Borel did pretty well defies logic, but it makes for the greatest horse racing story in decades. While most in the bulky field of 19 were thrashing into each other or spinning their heels in the greasy muddy surface, Mine that Bird was far behind, but on the inside, and when Borel spoke to his horse, he got an amazing answer. Mine that Bird started passing horses along the rail; from the remarkable overhead camera, it looked as if the entire field - but one- was standing still. When Mine that Bird cleared the final horse in mid-stretch (with maybe an inch to spare between his left flank and the rail), the most astonishing Derby surprise in modern times was about to be written.
Mine that Bird went off at 50.60 on the dollar and paid $103.20, a little bit more than Giacomo ($102.60)did in 2005. There are two very strong Canadian connections to this horse. He was originally purchased for $9500 by Woodbine trainer David Cotey. Mine that Bird did not at first indicate world championship form; he was an unremarkable 5th, beaten nine lengths in his maiden race, in which he went off at odds of 15-1. He won his next outing under jockey Constant Montpellier and paid $20.30 to win. Next time out he ran in the Silver Deputy stakes and with Chantal Sutherland at the helm, Mine that Bird won by two lengths at 10-1. He then captured the Swynford Stakes and the G3 Grey Stakes in succession, a sequence that led him to being named the Jockey Club of Canada's Sovereign Award winner in 2008 as Best Two Year-Old. When Cotey was offered over $400,000 for the horse, he gladly sold him. When Mine that Bird was a distanced 12th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile race last fall at Santa Anita, his owners offered to let Cotey buy him back for less. Cotey turned down the offer.
Mine that Bird's odds on the first Saturday in May had everything to do with his past performance chart. He had raced twice at Sunland Park in New Mexico ( where Kentucky Derby horses never come from) and the results did not earn him comparisons with Big Brown. He was second, then fourth and his times were ordinary, at least when compared to Pioneerof the Nile, Dunkirk, Friesan Fire, Papa Clem, Chocolate Candy, West Side Bernie, General Quarters and pretty well every other horse in the race.
But Calvin Borel is on fire at Churchill. The day before he had won the Kentucky Oaks for three year-old fillies. He was on a brilliant filly called Rachel Alexandra, who won by over 20 lengths as the huge odds-on favourite. By doubling up in the Derby, Borel is the first jockey since Jerry Bailey pulled off the trick in 1993, to win both the Oaks and Derby.
The payoffs generated by the surprising win were life-changing. The exactor with Pioneerof the Nile paid $2074.80, the tri was worth $41,500 and the superfecta (the top four horses) returned $557,006.
And just for the record, the horses that I did, in fact recommend were Dunkirk (11th), Regal Ransom (8th) and Chocolate Candy (5th).
