Mark Allen

Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Mine That Bird, winner of the 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), returned to the scene of the greatest accomplishment early Thursday evening when he arrived at Churchill Downs and took up residence in the barn of Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will now guide the Derby winner’s career.

Like his journey to Kentucky Derby glory some 13 months earlier, Mine That Bird arrived at Lukas’ Barn 44 in a trailer that had traveled from co-owner Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch near Roswell, NM, where the 4-year-old gelding has been training since March 15.  Mine That Bird was trained by Bennie “Chip” Woolley when he scored his 50-1 upset in Kentucky Derby 135, the second-largest upset in the history of America’s greatest race.  He went on to finish second to Kentucky Oaks (GI)-winning filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness and third to eventual 3-year-old champion Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes (GI).

Allen accompanied Mine That Bird on the journey that included 10 hours on the road before an overnight stopover in Tulsa, OK, followed by 12 hours on the road on Thursday.  Despite the long journey, Mine That Bird appeared frisky and full of himself when he stepped out of the trailer and made his first rounds in the Lukas shedrow.

The Derby winner’s co-owner said the decision by him and partner Dr. Leonard Blach to move Mine That Bird from Woolley’s care to the Lukas barn was difficult.

"Chip is a close friend of mine, and he done us a heck of a job last year,” Allen said.  “But I have a stable of horses back there that I really need looked after, and Mr. Lukas and some other trainers threw their hat in the ring.  When a legend throws his hat in the ring, it’s hard to go against him.”

With the move, Mine That Bird is the latest winner of the famed “Run for the Roses” to settle into a Churchill Downs barn that has housed four Kentucky Derby winners that won the race while wearing Lukas’ signature white bridle.

“But I don’t think we can put his name on the sign though – we can’t take much credit,” said a smiling Lukas.  “But it is an opportunity, and I feel fortunate that they picked us to maybe bring him back to the prominence that he enjoyed here a year ago.”

Lukas was impressed with Mine That Bird’s physical appearance and the energy displayed by the 4-year-old gelding after spending most of two days on the road from New Mexico.  He arrived at the track just after 8 p.m. (EDT).

“He’s such a gutty little competitor,” said Lukas.  “Looking at him here taking his bath, I think he looks better than I’ve ever seen him.  The time off has really served him well.  He looks better to me right now, and talking to the people who’ve been around him, I think he’s doing better right now than he has.  So, I’ve got a little bit of an edge there.  I’m getting a nice horse with some good condition him – I’m very pleased with what I see.  For a horse that just got off a 12-hour van ride, that rascal looks pretty damned good.”

   Mine That Bird brings a career record of 5-2-2 in 14 races with earnings of $2,196,581 into Lukas’ barn.  Lukas said the newest member of his stable might be ready to run within 60 days or so, but added that he might be fitter than he appears having come from high altitude training in New Mexico.  He said the 2010 Derby winner could go out for a jog on Friday morning after the mid-morning break for track maintenance.

While Mine That Bird’s greatest career moment appeared at Churchill Downs last year on the first Saturday in May, Allen said he is hoping for another big day beneath the track’s historic Twin Spires when the Breeders’ Cup comes to Churchill Downs on Nov. 5-6 – highlighted by the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) on Saturday, Nov. 6.

“That’s our goal – right there,” Allen said.  “We’re going to keep him here and not ship him around like we did last year.  That took a lot out of him, and a lot of that was my fault.  We’re going let Mr. Lukas do his magic on him, but that’s our goal: the Breeders’ Cup.”

Lukas said he would like to find an allowance race to get Mine That Bird started as he makes his return from a ninth-place finish behind the unbeaten mare Zenyatta in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.  But nothing is nailed down at this point.

“I haven’t talked with Mark or Dr. Blach about probably which races we’d want to target,” Lukas said.  “But I’m sure the Whitney’s going to jump right out there, and maybe the Suburban at Belmont could be another possibility.  Then they’ve got the Salvatore Mile over at Monmouth Park, which is another option.  So there are plenty of options.  The ultimate goal, of course, would be the Breeders’ Cup.  Whatever we do, we’ll work backwards from the Breeders’ Cup to make sure we look good here.”

Trainer Chip Woolley announced Saturday afternoon that Mike Smith would ride Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby (Grade II) on Aug. 1 and the $1 million Shadwell Travers (Grade I) on Aug. 29.

“Mike Smith has given us a two-race commitment for the West Virginia Derby and the Travers,” Woolley said.

Smith rode Mine That Bird in the Preakness Stakes (Grade I) when Calvin Borel honored a commitment to ride Rachel Alexandra. Mine That Bird, owned by Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach’s Buena Suerte Equine, finished a fast-closing second to Rachel Alexandra on May 16 at Pimlico.

Borel won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird and was in the saddle in the Belmont Stakes (Grade I) in which Mine That Bird ran third in his most recent start on June 6.

However, Borel could not give a commitment for the West Virginia Derby.

Woolley did not get a commitment for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade I) to be run Nov. 7 at Santa Anita.

“Hopefully we won’t be in a switch in the Breeders’ Cup,” Woolley said.

Smith is the regular rider of the undefeated mare Zenyatta, who never has faced males in her 11-for-11 career.

Smith, who was at Churchill Downs on Saturday to ride Thorn Song in the Firecracker Handicap (Grade II), said, “I’m very happy to have the opportunity to get back on him. Hopefully I can make amends for what happened the last time and get him home this time.”

Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird returned to Churchill Downs on Monday morning after his third-place finish in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (Grade I).

            Mine That Bird was unloaded in front of Barn 40 at 10:40 a.m. and walked back to Barn 42 by exercise rider Charlie Figueroa. Mine That Bird grazed for 20 minutes before being led back into Stall 22, which has been his home here since he arrived on April 21 for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands.

            “It was an uneventful flight and he handled the trip well,” trainer Chip Woolley said. “He came out of the Belmont great. He has held up well and hasn’t lost any weight. I am tickled with where he is at now.”

            Woolley said he has not decided on when Mine That Bird will return to the track.

            “He is definitely going to walk for three or four days and then I may back-track him a couple of days to get the kinks out,” Woolley said.

            Future plans for Mine That Bird, owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, remain on hold.

            “I want to watch him the next three or four days and make sure everything is well,” Woolley said. “If it is, we’ll come out with a plan. We have not made a decision, but there are six options we are looking at.”

            Woolley said he plans to stay in Louisville through the weekend, when he, jockey Calvin Borel and owners Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach will receive their Kentucky Derby trophies between live races on Saturday’s Reunion Day featuring the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.

“My brother Bill may come in after that and that will give me and Charlie a chance to go home to New Mexico,” Woolley said.

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OWNERS DROP IN TO CHECK OUT MINE THAT BIRD – Mine That Bird’s entourage grew a bit Sunday morning as Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach, the New Mexico-based co-owners of the Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner, made a quick stop in Louisville en route to New York for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (GI).
“We’re leaving later today for New York so we can get settled in and ready for everything,” said Allen, who never has been to Belmont Park where Mine That Bird will try to take down the 1 ½-mile final jewel of the Triple Crown.
Sunday marked the first time Allen had seen Mine That Bird since the gelding’s runner-up finish to Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes (Grade I) on May 16.
“It looks like he has put on a little weight,” said Allen, whose first Belmont Stakes recollection was Secretariat’s 31-length romp in 1973 when he was 15 and grooming horses at Santa Fe. “For as hard as he has run and the shipping, I am real happy with the way he looks.”
With regular exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up, Allen led Mine That Bird to the track around 7:30 a.m. Figueroa backtracked Mine That Bird to the paddock runway and then galloped 1 ½ miles.
“He was a little more into the bit today,” trainer Chip Woolley said. “That should set him up for his breeze tomorrow. He’ll work a half-mile and gallop an eighth past the wire with Calvin (Borel) on him right after the break..”
Woolley leaves for New York early Tuesday morning and Mine That Bird flies out the next day.
Also scheduled to work Monday is Rachel Alexandra, who went twice around the main track early Sunday morning with exercise rider Dominic Terry up.
 
BOLD START HAS RESTFUL MORNING DAY AFTER ARISTIDES WIN – Lawrence Carroll’s Bold Start had an easy morning at Barn 6 after his 2 ¾-length victory over Semaphore Man in Saturday’s Grade III Aristides.
    “I don’t know what it is, but he loves this track,” said Billy Wright, assistant to trainer Ken McPeek. “I told Paul McGee (who saddled Success Success in the Aristides) that they’d have to run 1:09 to beat him and he won in 1:09 flat.”
    The 5-year-old son Jump Start has posted a main track record of 4-2-2 in nine races with earnings of $202,902. Bold Start’s only off-the-board finish came in his racing debut when he ran fifth on June 4, 2006. For good measure, Bold Start won both of his starts over the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    Bold Start isn’t the only family member to run well at Churchill Downs. His half-sister, Lady On Holiday, never lost beneath the Twin Spires in three starts with two wins coming on the main track and one on the turf.
Lady On Holiday fractured a sesamoid this winter at Gulfstream Park and was retired and bred to Jump Start, which will make the resulting foal a three-quarters sibling to Bold Start.

APPRENTICE REYES ROLLING IN FIRST SEASON AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – Christian Santiago Reyes did not waste any time in finding the winner’s circle when he began his riding career in April at Gulfstream Park. The 19-year-old native of Puerto Rico won on his second mount on April 12.
    Instead of staying in Florida, Reyes came north to Kentucky where he rode in two races at Keeneland.  When the Lexington track wrapped up its meet, he traveled to Churchill Downs where Reyes has won 10 races from 73 mounts.
    “Wesley Ward asked me to come up here and I will go anywhere with him,” said Reyes, whose first win came for Ward at Gulfstream Park.
    Before coming to the United States in January, Reyes attended the jockey school in Puerto Rico for two years.
 Reyes, who has ridden mainly for Ward and Joe Woodard, admits to being surprised by his early success here and has paid particular attention to the riding styles of Calvin Borel, Jesus Castanon and Miguel Mena.
    Has he adapted the Borel knack for riding the rail?
    “Not yet,” Reyes said with a laugh. “Not yet.”
    After the Churchill Downs meet closes on July 5, Reyes does not have a specific track to move his tack to but he has an idea.
    “Wherever Wesley Ward goes, I will go,” Reyes said.

PURE CLAN ASSIGNED TOP WEIGHT FOR EARLY TIMES MINT JULEP – IEAH Stable, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group Stables’ Pure Clan has been assigned top weight of 122 pounds by racing secretary Ben Huffman for Saturday’s 33rd running of the $100,000-added Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) at 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    Trained by Bob Holthus, Pure Clan has won four of six career starts on grass and
her only start over the local turf course was a victory in last year’s Regret (GIII).
    Second high weight is Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma, who was assigned 120 pounds. Trained by David Carroll, Acoma also is 1-for-1 on the Churchill Downs lawn by virtue of her victory in the Grade II Mrs. Revere last fall.
    Darley Stable’s Tizaqueena, winner of the May 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (Grade II), was assigned 119 pounds.
    The three top weights are considered as “probable” for the Mint Julep by Huffman, along with Closeout (116), Communique (116) and Absolutely Cindy (113).
Entries will be drawn Wednesday.

MILESTONE WATCH – Trainer David Vance came up just short in his bid to become the 11th Churchill Downs trainer with 300 victories when Kiss Mine was overhauled late in Saturday’s ninth race by Keertana and Robby Albarado.  The race provided Albarado with his 4,000th career victory. Vance has no horses entered Sunday.
Trainer Bill Connelly remained two victories shy of the 1,000-win career plateau Saturday night at Indiana Downs as his two runners finished third and fourth. Connelly has no horses entered at Churchill Downs on Sunday, but has one entrant Monday night at Indiana Downs: Megalos in the first race.

BARN TALK – Calvin Borel rode two winners on Saturday’s card to boost his career total at Churchill Downs to 919. Borel, who is named to ride in all 10 races Sunday, needs six victories to tie Don Brumfield for second place all time at Churchill Downs. Pat Day, with 2,482 wins, is the all-time Churchill Downs leader.
    Borel’s agent, Jerry Hissam, said that Borel has secured the mount on Rutledge Farm’s Researcher for the Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) on June 13. A winner of 10 of 17 career starts, Researcher won the $500,000 Charles Town Classic on April 18 in his most recent start for trainer Jeff Runco.
Shaun Bridgmohan will have the mount on Pure Clan in Saturday’s Early Times Mint Julep. Regular rider Julien Leparoux will be riding Flying Private for trainer D. Wayne Lukas that afternoon in the Belmont Stakes (Grade I).
Jon Court also added two victories to his Spring Meet total on Saturday, scoring with T.C. Champ ($52.80) in the fourth and Finish in Style ($19.20) in the sixth. The average win payoff for Court’s 13 victories is $24.40, the highest for any rider with three or more victories.
    Tara Murty, an assistant to  trainer Nick Zito, was back at work at Barn 36 on Sunday morning after being injured in a traffic accident last Monday morning. Murty had sustained numerous injuries in the collision at Fourth and Central near the track.

WORK TAB (Track: FAST) – Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein, two-time winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI), continued his preparation for the $600,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) on the main track on June 13 by working five furlongs in 1:00.40 with trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi up.
    The move, accomplished early during training hours Sunday, was the fastest of 30 at the distance.
    “He went great.” Pitts-Blasi said, adding that she would likely handle Einstein’s scheduled half-mile breeze next Sunday.
    Einstein was runner-up to two-time “Horse of the Year” Curlin in last year’s Foster, then won the Clark Handicap (GII) on the main track in the Fall Meet.
    Also working Sunday morning was James Spence’s Flying Pegasus, runner-up to Belmont Stakes contender Charitable Man in last year’s Grade II Futurity at Belmont. Trained by Ralph Nicks, Flying Pegasus worked a half-mile in :49.40, the 20th fastest of 54 at the distance.  
    James Spence’s homebred son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus has not raced since a sixth-place finish behind Friesan Fire in the Louisiana Derby (GII).  He was second to that rival in his 2009 debut in the Risen Star (GIII) at Fair Grounds.

MINE THAT BIRD ‘LOPES’ ONCE AROUND – Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Kentucky Derby 135 winner Mine That Bird back-tracked to the paddock tunnel and then ‘loped’ once around a “fast” Churchill Downs main track Tuesday morning before the renovation break.
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. liked what he saw and said Mine That Bird would ‘lope’ around twice on Wednesday.
    “The only reason we are staying here is because he is very comfortable here and training well,” Woolley said. “We will leave Monday or Tuesday, probably Tuesday.  He may jog the morning we leave. I’d like to leave about 9 and get into Pimlico around 7 that evening.”
    The magnitude of pulling off the second-largest mutual shocker ($103.20) still has not sunk in on Woolley.
    “The whole thing is still a whirlwind,” Woolley said. “It is hard to get a grip on it that it really happened. Eventually you’ll get used to the fact that it really did happen.
    “Sunday I was in the paddock getting ready to do an interview and looked up at the sign ‘Kentucky Derby 2009, Mine That Bird’ and I almost started crying. I couldn’t believe it.”
    Winning jockey Calvin Borel, who saw his bid for a Triple Crown end two years ago at Pimlico on Street Sense when he was nipped by Curlin, came by the barn to look in on the Derby winner.
    Woolley was asked what Borel told him after he worked Mine That Bird five furlongs the Monday before the Derby after being on the gelding for the first time.
    “I was looking for 1:01 that morning and he went in 1:02 but he got off a little slow,” Woolley said. “Calvin never moved on him and he said ‘He will finish’ and that gave Calvin the confidence to take back and come driving.”

PAPA CLEM RETURNS TO THE TRACK – Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem returned to the track at Churchill Downs at 6:15 Tuesday morning for the first time since running fourth in Kentucky Derby 135.
    With exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez aboard, Papa Clem jogged the wrong way around accompanied by a pony. Gonzalez said Papa Clem would gallop in the morning about the same time.
    Trainer Gary Stute is scheduled to return to Louisville this weekend and the colt is scheduled to fly to Baltimore on May 13.

PIONEEROF THE NILE HEADS BACK TO TRACK WEDNESDAY – Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile is scheduled to return to the track Wednesday morning for the first time since his runner-up finish in Kentucky Derby 135.
    Trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to return to Louisville on Saturday night. Two of the nine runners he has at Churchill Downs, Mike Pegram’s Mayor Marv and Peachtree Stable’s Mythical Power, will be heading to Texas on Wednesday for Saturday’s $400,000 guaranteed Lone Star Derby (Grade III) at a mile and a sixteenth.

GENERAL QUARTERS REMAINS PREAKNESS POSSIBILITY – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy walked General Quarters on Tuesday morning and plans to return the 10th-place Kentucky Derby 135 finisher to the track Wednesday morning.
    “The Preakness is a possibility, but I want to see how he gallops and go from there,” McCarthy said. “He is doing so well. I’d like to get him over there (Pimlico) and get a few turns around the track.”
     McCarthy is not sure when he would bring General Quarters to Pimlico if he decides to try the Preakness. A charter flight leaves from Louisville on May 13, but, McCarthy said, “He ships so well, I may van him up.”
    
HULL, MENA TO TEAM UP IN PREAKNEES FOR ROMANS – Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s undefeated Hull galloped Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs.
    Trainer Dale Romans said the undefeated winner of the Grade III Derby Trial on April 25 would work Saturday morning and fly to Baltimore on May 13. Miguel Mena, who was aboard for the Derby Trial win, has the Preakness call.

TERRAIN HEADING FOR TEXAS … OR BALTIMORE – “We’ve got a decision to make,” trainer Al Stall Jr., said Tuesday morning. “The plane for Texas leaves at 7 o’clock in the morning.”
    The decision will be whether Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain goes to Lone Star Park for Saturday’s Lone Star Derby or remains in Stall 7 at Barn 47 at Churchill Downs and trains for the Preakness.
    “We are not 100 percent for the Preakness,” Stall said. “He is at Keeneland and is coming over here this afternoon. If he does not go to Texas, he will work here this weekend and fly to Baltimore next Wednesday.”
    Terrain ran fourth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 11 in his most recent start.
    “We gave him a little time off after the Blue Grass and he has had two works since,” Stall said of Terrain, who worked a half-mile in :50.40 at Keeneland on Sunday. “He has done real well since the Blue Grass.”
    Terrain has run twice this year, opening with a third-place finish in the Louisiana derby (Grade II) on March 14. Fourth in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I), Terrain closed 2008 with a fifth-place finish in the Grade III Delta Jackpot behind possible Preakness rival Big Drama.

BARN TALK – IEAH Stables, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group Stable’s Pure Clan, winner of last year’s Grade III Regret at Churchill Downs and the American Oaks Invitational (Grade I) at Hollywood Park, worked five furlongs on a “fast” main track in 1:00.40, second best of 25 at the distance, under regular morning partner Steve Schmelzel.
    “When we got her back off the farm, she had a stone bruise and that put us about 30 days behind with her,” trainer Bob Holthus said of Pure Clan, a three-time stakes winner at Churchill Downs and third-place finisher in the 2008 Kentucky Oaks (Grade I). “I had been working her on Saturday, but I didn’t want to go on Derby Day.”
    Pure Clan’s return is expected to come in the Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) at a mile and a sixteenth on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    “She worked well this morning, but her next work or two will probably be on the grass,” Holthus said.
The only faster work was turned in by three-time graded stakes winner Capt. Candyman Can, owned by Joseph Rauch and David Zell in 1:00.20 for trainer Ian Wilkes.
Robby Albarado joined the 800-win club at Churchill Downs last week, becoming only the sixth rider in track history to reach that milestone. He hit the mark in Thursday’s eighth race when he guided La Mousse (ARG) to victory.
    Calvin Borel, currently third in the rider standings with nine victories, is six wins shy of becoming the fourth rider in Churchill Downs history to reach 900 victories. Victory No. 9, which came aboard Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby, gave him 4,729 for his career.
    Jamie Theriot and Julien Leparoux lead the rider standings with 10 victories each.
Trainer Ken McPeek enters Wednesday’s card with 996 career victories, 231 of them at Churchill Downs. McPeek has two horses entered on Wednesday’s card: Biden Our Time in the second and Mimi’s Kids in the sixth.
Nominations close Wednesday for the eighth running of the $100,000 Matt Winn for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on the main track on May 16. Zayat Stables’ Eaton’s Gift gave trainer Dale Romans his second consecutive Matt Winn victory in the 2008 running.
    Closing Saturday are nominations for the 72nd running of the $100,000 Louisville Handicap (Grade III) for 3-year-olds and up going a mile and a half over the Matt Winn Turf Course and for the sixth running of the $100,000 Winning Colors for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going six furlongs on the main track. The Louisville Handicap will be run May 23 and the Winning Colors on Memorial Day, May 25.
    Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Lattice won last year’s Louisville Handicap for trainer Al Stall Jr. Graeme Six, trained by Tom Amoss for the ownership of Tom O’Grady, Johns Martin and Team West Side Stables, won the 2008 Winning Colors.
Tracy Farmer’s Commentator, a two-time winner of the Whitney (GI) at Saratoga, worked four furlongs in :47.60 for trainer Nick Zito.  The 8-year-old Distorted Humor gelding is coming off an upset loss in his 2009 debut in the $500,000 Charles Town Classic at West Virginia’s Charles Town Races & Slots.
Chrysalis Stable LLC’s Silverfoot, the 9-year-old three-time winner of the Louisville Handicap (GIII), continued to work toward his 2009 debut with a five-furlong breeze around the dogs on “good” turf in 1:03.40.
Mr. Nightlinger, winner of the 2008 Aegon Turf Sprint (GIII), breezed four furlongs on the grass in :49.40.

KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER MINE THAT BIRD RETURNS TO CHURCHILL DOWNS TRACK – “I have never been to Baltimore, but it looks like I won’t be able to say that in a few days,” Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. said Monday morning at Churchill Downs after his Kentucky Derby 135 winner Mine That Bird jogged a mile on a sloppy race track.
    With owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach of Buena Suerte Equine on hand, Mine That Bird went to the track at 6:40 with exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up.
    “He was just bucking and playing out there,” Figueroa said. “The outriders were surprised to see that yellow (Derby) saddle towel come jogging by.”
    A short time later, the Mine That Bird team informed officials with the Maryland Jockey Club that the 50-1 winner of the Kentucky Derby would compete in the $1 million Preakness (GI), the second jewel of the Triple Crown that will be run at Pimlico on May 16.
    Woolley had said Sunday he wanted to see how Mine That Bird came out of the race before committing to the Preakness and a possible run toward the Triple Crown.
With Allen leading Mine That Bird to the track, Woolley watched the exercise from the viewing stand at the six-furlong chute.
    “Perfect. He tried to buck Charlie off in front of the grandstand and doesn’t normally do that,” Woolley said. “Tomorrow he will back-track to the three-eighths and then ‘lope’ around one time and the next day two times.
    “It will be two rounds a day. I might walk him one day, maybe the day we ship, but he will have no breezes before the Preakness.”
    Woolley said the Triple Crown pursuit factored into the thinking of going on to Pimlico with the gelded son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone.
    “The Triple Crown is good for racing, and without the Derby winner (in the Preakness) there is no chance to have one,” Woolley said.
    Mine That Bird gave jockey Calvin Borel his second Kentucky Derby victory and Woolley lauded the popular rider’s effort on Saturday that was the 4,729th win of Borel’s career.
    “Calvin has given two of the greatest rides in Kentucky Derby history,” Woolley said of Saturday’s score and a near-identical run two years previous with Street Sense. “To come from last and go by 18 head, that’s just incredible.”
    Mine That Bird is expected to remain at Churchill Downs until at least May 12.

McCARTHY COULD CONSIDER PREAKNESS BID FOR GENERAL QUARTERS – After being dragged around the shedrow at Barn 37 by General Quarters on Monday morning, owner-trainer Tom McCarthy began to think a bit about a Preakness bid with the 10th-place Kentucky Derby finisher.
    “He came out of the race a lot better than I thought,” McCarthy said. “His legs are cold all the way around, so maybe things aren’t as bad as I thought.”
    McCarthy said he would try to walk General Quarters one more day before returning to the track Wednesday.
    “The way he walked this morning, dragging us around the barn … I’m going to try to give him another day,” McCarthy said. “I will gallop him a few days and see where we are, but I want to get a Pimlico condition book so I can see what all the fees are.”

PREAKNESS HOPEFULS WALK MONDAY AT CHURCHILL DOWNS -- Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile walked the shedrow at Barn 33 at Churchill Downs for a second morning after his runner-up finish in Kentucky Derby 135.
    Trainer Bob Baffert, who was leaving Louisville later Monday and scheduled to return Saturday night, said Pioneerof the Nile would return to the track Wednesday morning.
    Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem walked the shedrow at Barn 10A, led by exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez.
    Gonzalez said Papa Clem, the fourth-place finisher in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, would return to the track to jog Tuesday morning. Trainer Gary Stute is scheduled to return to Louisville on Saturday or Sunday from his Southern California base.
Jake Ballis, Rashard Lewis and Reagan Swinbank’s Join in the Dance, who finished seventh after the setting the pace in Kentucky Derby 135, walked for a second straight morning at Churchill Downs.
    “He came out of the race real good and probably will return to the track Wednesday,” said Mike McCarthy, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher, as the son of Sky Mesa eagerly attacked the grass behind Barn 41.
    Pletcher had indicated Sunday that there “was a chance” Join in the Dance could come back in the Preakness.

HISTORY-MAKING EINSTEIN LOOKS FOR GRADE I ON DIRT IN STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP – Two-time Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) winner Einstein was doing well on Monday, tearing aggressively a hay rack and pleasing trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi with his quick recovery from Saturday’s hard-fought victory over Cowboy Cal in Churchill Downs’ top race for older turf horses.
    Einstein edged Cowboy Cal by a head after a stretch-long duel to win by a head and become the first horse to win the 1 1/8-mile turf test for older horses. It marked the fourth consecutive year in which Einstein had competed in the Derby Day race.
    “It took him four years, but that’s all right,” smiled Pitts-Blasi.
    The victory was his second of the year and came on the heels of his biggest career victory in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap (GI) on March 7, his debut on a synthetic surface in which he turned back nine rivals on the Pro-Ride surface.
    Now a Grade I winner on synthetic and turf surfaces, Pitts is pointing Einstein toward the Grade I, $750,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap on June 13 at Churchill Downs in hopes notching a Grade I win on traditional dirt for the 7-year-old Brazilian-bred son of 1985 Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck.  Einstein finished second to two-time “Horse of the Year” Curlin in the 2008 Stephen Foster, then won the Clark Handicap (GII) on the Churchill Downs dirt in late November.
    “I just think if we’re going to try to get a Grade I on the dirt, this is the place to do it,” said Pitts-Blasi.  “He loves this track.  We’ll try it if he’s good.  We want him on top of his game, but we’ll give it a shot.”
    A victory in the Stephen Foster Handicap would allow Einstein to join California-based Lava Man as the only horses to score Grade I stakes victories on dirt, turf and synthetic courses.    

BARN TALK – Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss’ champion Zenyatta was scheduled to fly back to her home base at Hollywood Park on Monday. The 2008 Eclipse Award winner as champion older filly or mare was scheduled to make her 2009 debut in Friday’s Louisville Distaff (Grade II), but was scratched by trainer John Shirreffs because of track conditions.
    The Louisville Distaff was won by Domino Stud of Lexington’s Miss Isella, now a winner of four of six starts under the Twin Spires including last fall’s Falls City Handicap (Grade II).
    “Can you write some more races for her here,” trainer Ian Wilkes said with a laugh, adding that the $300,000 Fleur De Lis (Grade II) on June 13 at a mile and an eighth would be the next likely start for Miss Isella.
    Chocolate Candy, fifth-place finisher behind Mine That Bird in Kentucky Derby 135, will leave Tuesday for Belmont Park to begin preparations for the June 6 Belmont Stakes according to Galen May, assistant to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

Kentucky Derby fans who visited Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum on the day after the 135th “Run for the Roses” got a surprise gift from the team behind Mine That Bird, the 50-1 longshot that won America’s greatest race on Saturday.

Trainer Chip Woolley Jr. suggested Sunday morning that the mantle of roses worn by Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle after his victory be placed on the new sculpture of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro located at Churchill Downs’ Gate 1 entrance.  After consulting with co-owners Mark Allen with Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach of Bueno Suerte Equine, the trio behind Saturday’s surprise Derby winner decided to give the nearly 400 “Freedom Roses” that make up the garland to Derby fans who were visiting the Barbaro Memorial and the Kentucky Derby Museum on the day after the race.

The garland had been stored in refrigeration overnight in the museum, and at noon (EDT) was briefly placed over the rail of the Barbaro sculpture in tribute to the ill-fated 2006 winner of the Kentucky Derby.  The garland was then removed and Woolley and Allen began handing out the roses, one-by-one, to fans who happened by the larger-than-life sculpture as they visited the museum and Churchill Downs.

“This is a tribute to a great horse,” Woolley said.  “I wanted everyone to have a little piece of the Derby. We wanted to give something back to the game.  We just want to show how important horses really are.  That’s what this is all about.  We want people to know just how important these horses really are to us.  They’re not just animals, they’re a part of us.”

A line of delighted fans formed in front of the Barbaro sculpture as they awaited their opportunity for a Derby rose won by Mine That Bird, and Woolley and Allen also posed for photos and signed autographs until the each rose had been distributed.  The two men greeted fans in front of the Barbaro Memorial for more than an hour and a half until each rose from the garland had been handed out.