Hard to Predict - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:39:00 GMT

Another Triple Crown season has come and gone, and as usual it did not disappoint. Many of the happenings would have been impossible to predict, however, such as:

• A 50-1 shot winning the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). It looked like Quality Road, The Pamplemousse, and I Want Revenge would all bring solid credentials to Churchill Downs for the Derby, but they fell by the wayside. At the end of the day, a new star was born when Mine That Bird came through on the rail under the master of such rides, Calvin “Bo-Rail” Borel, to wear the roses.

• The trainer of the Derby winner, Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., winning the race with his first-ever starter in a graded stakes race. Woolley proved there are good horsemen at every track in the country, just waiting to get their hands on a good horse. Two things stand out about Woolley: 1) He was incredibly accommodating to the media and fans, doing hundreds of interviews and signing hundreds of autographs. This from a guy surely worn out from hobbling around on crutches since breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident. 2) Over and over and over again, Woolley took little credit for the Derby win, BlackBerry Preakness (gr. I) second, or Belmont (gr. I) third. He credited the horse.

• A filly winning the Preakness for the first time since 1924. Those who witnessed the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) were left speechless by Rachel Alexandra’s dazzling 20 1/4-length procession the day prior to the Derby and left wondering if she would have beaten the boys had she run Saturday instead of Friday. Her owners (Dolphus Morrison and Michael Lauffer) did not want to run against males, but the next week she was sold (to Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick), switched barns (from Hal Wiggins to Steve Asmussen), and was headed to Baltimore for the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

• A jockey giving up the mount on the Kentucky Derby winner. In an unprecedented but completely understandable move, Borel stuck with the filly and made the right choice as she won the Preakness, holding off Mine That Bird and jockey Mike Smith. Borel and his longtime agent, Jerry Hissam, were put in an unusual situation but did what was right for the rider’s business.

• Borel regaining the mount on Mine That Bird; Borel becoming a media sensation. Calvin with Jay Leno; Calvin with David Letterman; Calvin on Good Morning America; Calvin ringing the opening bell on Wall Street as traders chanted his name. It’s Calvinmania. What is President Obama waiting for? Calvin Borel is a sweet, warm, down-to-earth person you can’t help but love, and every appearance helps Thoroughbred racing. If we could be so lucky as to have Mine That Bird turn into the next John Henry, we could ride this show for years to come. Again, Woolley showed complete class, knowing the jockey had to make the choice he did and putting him back on for the Belmont. It appeared Borel moved too soon in the Belmont, but after acknowledging that, the trainer said he would “be the first to pat him on the back.”

• Another trainer winning his first graded race in a classic. While it was not his first start in a graded race—it was his seventh—Tim Ice won the Belmont with Summer Bird for his first graded victory. A 15-year assistant, Ice learned his lessons well, skipping the Preakness, shipping to Belmont Park early, and saddling the colt to win the “Test of the Champion” in only his fifth start.

• Two classic winners for a sire in his first crop. We’ve seen numerous sires get one classic winner lately in his first crop, but Gainesway Farm stallion Birdstone notched two in Mine That Bird and Summer Bird. They carry C.V. Whitney bloodlines, and that leading to success is the one thing that could have been predicted to have turned out as it did.

Wild and Wooley

cdawahare — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:47:00 GMT

by Dan Liebman

Trainer Bennie "Chip" Woolley Jr. had a rough start to the year. He crashed his motorcycle in some gravel and broke his leg, and his stable was having a tough time winning races, with one lone maiden winner from 32 starts.

On May 2, his year got better. Chip Woolley won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

Which is exactly the way the horse business works. One day you are up; one day you are down.

Chip Woolley had never won a graded stakes before. Stop. Make that had never had a starter in a graded stakes before. Now he will forever be known as the trainer of Mine That Bird, winner of the 135th Kentucky Derby.

There were lots of good story lines in the 2009 Derby, but it doesn't get any better than this.

After the race, Woolley wished people would stop talking about his crutches and the fact he vanned Mine That Bird from New Mexico to Kentucky himself. Talk about the horse, he suggested.

People break their legs, and many trainers trailer their own horses. But few win the Kentucky Derby.

Chip Woolley has done all of the above.

Through May 2, Steve Asmussen is the leading trainer in North America by wins with 207. In the past 25 years combined, Woolley has won 178 Thoroughbred races (he also trains Quarter Horses). The most in a single year: 21 in 2002.

The fact is, there are far more Chip Woolleys training horses than Steve Asmussens. Throughout the country, and around the globe for that matter, there are countless trainers who have in common a love of the horse and the dream of having their hands on the big horse.

Asmussen has had his hands on many good horses, most recently two-time Horse of the Year Curlin.

Now, Chip Woolley has his hands on a good horse, one that passed the other 18 runners in the Derby field like they were standing still.

Woolley gave much of the credit to jockey Calvin Borel, and for good reason. When Mine That Bird was squeezed at the start, Borel did not panic. He did what Calvin "Bo-Rail" does: get over to the rail. But even Borel could not have envisioned how full of run the gelding by Birdstone would be until he reached the three-eighths pole, when Mine That Bird was in overdrive while the others were seemingly staggering home.

Borel had to come off the rail just briefly, to pass Atomic Rain, but as he has done so often-including in his 2007 Derby score aboard Street Sense-he skimmed the rail to victory.

The previous day, Borel did not have to worry about being on the rail while riding Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).

While the Derby was stunning by the fact the winner paid $103.20, the Oaks was stunning by the fact the winner won by 201/4 lengths.

The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro was so dominant Borel could have guided her to the outside rail and still won.

While the Derby was Woolley's first time at Churchill Downs, Hal Wiggins, who trains Rachel Alexandra, has stabled at the track regularly since 1993. Try to find a nicer guy on the backstretch and the search will prove futile.

Unlike for Woolley, it was not Wiggins' first graded stakes win, though it was his first grade I victory. And, although he has trained good horses before, he certainly has not had one as talented as Rachel Alexandra in the shedrow.

Fans are already dreaming of a Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (gr. I) featuring Rachel Alexandra and unbeaten champion Zenyatta.

As for the gutsy little gelding Mine That Bird, well, the weeks and months ahead will prove whether he is a one-hit wonder or racing's latest star.

Either way, we can now talk about the horse, not the crutches his trainer uses or the van he is transported in.

What's Going On Here : mine that bird

Hard to Predict - by Dan Liebman

Wild and Wooley