Did any of you watch the Kentucky Derby yesterday?
Yesterday I watched the Kentucky Derby, I am not a horse racing fan, although I do enjoy going to the races. We have a nice track here about an hours drive from me.
But all the hype about it being the best sporting event, me being an Indy race fan, thinking that is the greatest sporting event!!!! I had to watch.
Mine That Bird, a 50-1 longshot won the race. It was fantastic.
As I watched the tv leading up to the race, the owners are interviewed and you get a little history of the horse and owners.
The owner had drove up from New Mexico hauling the trailer, 21 hour drive, with a broken leg from a motorcylce accident.
He hobbled up to the Winners Circle on crutches, was interviewed and said "Maybe people will talk about something other than my drive up here!"
Asked if he was going to fly home...He said NO!!
Some of these horses are bought for over 2 million dollars!!
I could not help but think of Susan Boyle and her story and success while learning about this horse.
Yeah! for the UNDERDOGS!!!
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jGoWdUdswljmJ0mYmfNiwa3_lubg
Canadian champion horse Mine That Bird talk of racing world after Derby win
38 minutes ago
Even as a modest US$9,500 purchase, Mine That Bird acted like he was something special.
David Cotey bought Mine That Bird in 2008 unsure exactly what he had but the trainer from Mississauga, Ont., said it was clear the horse wasn't lacking confidence.
"He's a little cocky but he just does everything right, he's very professional," Cotey said Sunday. "He doesn't do anything out of the ordinary other than use his head and behave himself.
"There's nothing you wouldn't like about him. Nothing presents a problem for him."
And that includes shocking the thoroughbred racing world.
Canada's 2008 champion two-year-old male registered a stunning 6 3/4-length victory in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Mine That Bird won the first jewel of U.S. racing's Triple Crown as a whopping 50-1 longshot.
"I've never seen him move like that before, especially in the Kentucky Derby where they pay millions for horses," said Cotey, who sold the horse for $400,000 last fall. "And here's this little guy who went by them like they're going backwards.
"I was cheering like heck for him and I didn't even bet on him."
Too bad, because Cotey would've cleaned up.
Those who were bold enough to put their money on the three-year-old gelding earned a return of $103.20 for a $2 bet, the second-highest payout in Derby history. His margin of victory was the second-largest in race history and largest since Assault's eight-length win in 1946.
And he did it with a dramatic flair.
After being roughed up at the start, Mine That Bird fell well behind the leaders and appeared out of it. But in the final run to the finish line, Mine That Bird came flying home on the inside rail on a sloppy track to earn a win that was worth $1.4 million in his first-ever Grade 1 stakes race.
"I saw him get roughed up at the start and thought that wasn't good," said Cote, who watched the race at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack. "But I knew they wanted him back a ways and when I saw this horse hit the TV and literally blow by, I said 'That's got to be Birdie,' because I knew he was way, way back.
"He tries every race so I knew he'd really take a run at them. But I never dreamed he'd run like that or win."
Mine That Bird - a son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone - became only the third horse of Canadian pedigree to win the Derby. His great-great-grandfather, the legendary Northern Dancer, won it in 1964, and Sunny's Halo wore the roses in 1983.
Mine That Bird was co-bred in Kentucky by Toronto's Peter Lamantia and the thought was he'd be a decent enough thoroughbred. And he lived up to those expectations when he was named Canada's top two-year-old male champion last year.
But Mine That Bird began his career in modest fashion, earning a fifth-place finish over six furlongs at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack last July 20, almost 10 lengths behind the winner.
His Beyer figure (Daily Racing Form speed rating) was 48, hardly a number that suggested anything special. But Cotey wasn't concerned.
"I thought he might do a little better, but it was a race where we wanted him to learn a little bit," said Cotey. "It's hard to win races at Woodbine on any day, it's so competitive."
The horse proceeded to win four straight races - including three stakes events - something Cotey wasn't expecting.
"I definitely wasn't," he said. "If anyone had told me he'd win four straight and three straight stakes, I would have asked, 'What are you smoking?'
"But I will say that once he won the first stake, I felt he could win the next one and the next one."
Cotey wasn't the only one impressed with Mine That Bird's form.
After his half-length win in the $232,100 Grey Stakes on Oct. 5, the New Mexico group of Double Eagle Ranch and Bueno Suerte Equine called Cotey and bought him. It didn't hurt that the horse's victory in the Grey Stakes qualified him for the Kentucky Derby field based upon graded-stakes money earned.
But early in Saturday's race, he wasn't much of a factor. He was far off the early pace and had shown no sign of being able to effectively make the ground up.
But when jockey Calvin Borel asked his mount to let go coming around the final turn, Mine That Bird showed he still had plenty left in the tank. And once he cleared traffic he drew off in the deep stretch, crossing the wire in 2:02.66.
Cotey has no regrets about selling Mine That Bird as he and his partners were able to purchase 37 other horses as a result of the transaction. And Mine That Bird's success Saturday certainly won't hurt their reputation with other perspective horse buyers.
"I never ever sold a horse and wished someone would do terrible with them," Cotey said. "Now people will buy a horse out of here for good money and not be afraid to go to the Breeders' Cup or the Derby or wherever.
"It's pretty tough up here right now and it will do a heck of a lot for racing up here... and it's a great story. It gives the smaller guy the dream that they might buy a horse that could turn out like Mine That Bird."