Mine That Bird en route to Pimlico

It has finally sunk in; Mine That Bird is the 2009 winner of the Kentucky Derby. As hard as I find that to believe, it was not a dream, he actually did it. His 6 3/4 margin of victory was the largest since Assault won the Triple Crown in 1946. His trainer, Bennie “Chip” Wooley, is determined to prove that the win was not a fluke. Driving his Ford F-450 Lariat, with exercise rider Charlie Figueroa riding shotgun, Wooley began the 10 hour drive from Churchill Downs to Pimlico Race Course.

“I have about 115 gallons and hauling the trailer I get about 8 ½ miles a gallon,” Woolley said. “This will be about like our first day coming here when we went from El Paso on Lone Star Park (in suburban Dallas). We won’t need to stop for gas. When we stop to eat, I’ll open the top of the window and let him look out and take things in. He’s a good shipper. Nothing bothers him.”

As you can see in the picture above, Bob Baffert rode his stable pony Leo to watch Wooley load up Mine That Bird.I don’t know why, but that picture makes me laugh.

“I just want to see how this is done,” Baffert said with a laugh.

One part of me wants to root for Mine That Bird, but another does not. On one side you have the cowboy trainer who defied all odds to win the Kentucky Derby, but on the other you have an owner who plotted to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the Preakness. To be the best you have to beat the best, and attempting to keep the filly out of the race was just down right wrong. They claim that they just want their jockey back, but losing a jockey is just a fact of life. Mike Smith has been named the backup rider and is more than capable of getting the job done. I would prefer him to Borel if it werent for the fact that Borel rode him to his win in the Kentucky Derby. Regardless of the circumstances, I can’t wait to watch the Preakness on Saturday.