LOUISVILLE, KY- Just one day after comparing G1 Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra to Secretariat, Calvin “Bo-rail” Borel stayed true to his nickname, guiding 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird up the inside of a sloppy Churchill Downs strip to win the 135th G1 Kentucky Derby by 6 ¾ lengths in front of 153,563 fans, becoming just the seventh rider in history to win both events in the same year.
Trained by Derby rookie Bennie “Chip’ Woolley Jr, who hobbled over to the paddock from the barn on crutches due to a broken leg was running this horse for just the third time in the Derby and was coming off a pair of average efforts at Sunland Park in New Mexico. Now, he’s won the worlds’ most famous horse race.
"I can't say enough.” Woolley said. “This is a feeling like I've never had before."
Last in a field of nineteen three year-olds after getting bothered at the start from post 8, Mine That Bird, the only gelding in the race, appeared to be living up to his giant price on the tote board before picking off horses one by one starting on the far turn. By the time they hit the 1/8 pole, this years’ Run for the Roses was in the book.
"I just took him back, rode a Street Sense race," and emotional Borel said, referencing his winning ride in the 2007 renewal of the Derby.
The second longest price in Derby history, Mine That Bird paid $103.20 and covered the 1 ¼ miles in 2”02 3/5. He is the second horse in the past five years to win at over 50-1, with Giacomo having accomplished the feat in 2005.
The Derby set up as expected, with longshot Join in the Dance setting the early pace as Godolphin runner Regal Ransom stalked him intently down the backside through a solid :47 1/5 half mile. A much closer to the pace than expected Pioneerof the Nile bided his time in third while Hold Me back made what appeared to be a premature move approaching the far turn while racing along the inside.
Second place finisher Pioneerof the Nile who struck the lead as the field fanned out turning for home was no match for the winner but did hold off late runs from Musket Man and Papa Clem. Though he was wide, Pioneerof the Nile was the last horse that could use a bad trip as an excuse as Dunkirk stumbled at the start and never got involved while surprising favorite Friesan Fire lost position going into the clubhouse turn before getting caught wide to finish next to last.
The exacta 8-16 paid $2,074.80, the trifecta 8-16-2 returned a robust $41,500.60 while the superfecta 8-16-12-7 came back a life-changing $557,006.40. In multi race exotics, the Borel Oaks/Derby double returned $248.40 while the all-stakes pick four came back $40,884.60. The all stakes pick six went unhit, though five out of six winners got you back $1,718.00 and resulted in a $781,146 carryover for Wednesday’s Churchill Downs card.
The rest of the Derby field, in order, looked like this: Chocolate Candy, Summer Bird, Join in the Dance, Regal Ransom, West Side Bernie, General Quarters, Dunkirk, Hold Me Back, Advice, Desert Party, Mr. Hot Stuff, Atomic Rain, Nowhere to Hide, Friesan Fire, and Flying Private.
Derby Day was a culmination of a crazy Derby week. The field lost probable favorite Quality Road due to quarter crack problems on Monday then saw morning line favorite I Want Revenge scratched the morning of the race due to a problem in his left front ankle. In between, Square Eddie was declared Tuesday when the cannonbone injury that kept him out of several key preps and off the trail for months acted up while Win Willy was withdrawn on Wednesday before entries were completed.
Even though Mine That Bird had never won a race prior to the Derby in the U.S that has happened before, meaning that some of the more prominent “Derby rules” remain intact for next spring.
Dunkirk couldn’t become the first horse since Apollo in 1882 to win the Derby without making a start as a two year old and with the help of Advice and Join in the Dance, ran his trainer Todd Pletcher’s Derby record to 0 for 24.
One that is just several years but widely spoken about, no horse that has never raced on dirt prior to the Derby has won. And finally, the mighty Godolphin Stable took two more shots and doing things their way and fired blanks as neither Regal Ransom nor Desert Party ever threatened.
