Mind That Bird!

What a strange name for a race horse, let alone the winner of the 135th Kentucky Derby. But it is true. In a stunning upset, Mind That Bird, trained by Bennie Woolley Jr. entered the race at 50 to 1 odds, and was fancied by no one to win the race. Instead, it was a resounding win, with Mind That Bird winning by nearly seven lengths, the biggest winning length since 1946.

The horse was such a long shot that before the race the experts wrote this of him:

Justin Dew's Picks:

"Too slow to be a factor."

John Asher's Picks:

"Derby is a huge step up for this Canadian champ."

Jill Byrne's Picks:

"Might as well give it a go anything can happen."

James Scully's Picks:

"Faces an extreme class hike."

Mind That Bird was bought for $9,500 when he was a colt. He was racing against horses that cost their owners in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. One of them cost a couple of million dollars. He was transported from his home in Arizona in a normal horse trailer, hitched to a pick-up truck and driven by his trainer Bennie Woolley Jr, who was hobbling around Churchill Downs with crutches (he broke his foot in a motorcycle accident a week ago).

Ridden by Calvin Borel, Mind That Bird was a 50:1 longshot. This is one time that it would have been wise to bet him to win. For that $2 bet paid out: $103.20 on the win.

For those of you who missed today's race, here it is for you to watch. Needless to say it is exciting.

Mind That Bird : Kentucky Derby 2009



View at YouTube

The first leg of the Triple Crown is completed. There are still 2 more legs to go. Will this be the year that a horse will win this prestigious title? The last winner of the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. The sport and the title are long overdue.

The next leg of the Triple Crown is the Preakness Stakes. Will gold strike twice for Mind That Bird or will the dream of a Triple Crown winner end there. We will have to wait until May 16th to find out.