West Virginia Derby

A trailer carrying Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Serte Equine’s Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), has departed Churchill Downs on an approximately seven-hour journey to West Virginia’s Mountaineer Racetrack Casino and Resort.

    Mine That Bird is scheduled to return to competition for the first time since a third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes (GI), the final jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby on Aug. 1.  Churchill Downs had been home to Mine That Bird and trainer Chip Woolley since the 3-year-old gelding’s arrival a few days before his 50-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby, and Woolley was at the wheel of the pick-up truck that was connected to Mine That Bird’s trailer when the team pulled away from Barn 42 just before 7:10 a.m. (EDT) on Friday.

    “We’re ready to go,” said Woolley.  “You get to looking forward to going to run again and it gets kind of drab after you’ve been a while not running.  I’m kind of excited about going and being to a new place we hadn’t been.  So I think it’ll be a lot of fun. As much as I hate leaving Louisville and Churchill, it’s going to be fund to move on down the road.””

    Mine That Bird had an active morning before he stepped onto Woolley’s van.  He spent about 20 minutes in a hydrotherapy treatment that has been part of his local routine over the past several weeks, then the Derby winner walked under the shedrow until just before it was time to leave.  Several well-wishers dropped by bid farewell to Woolley and Mine That Bird, and a few offered a peppermint as a farewell gift to the Derby winner.

    “Even from day one, before we won the Derby, the people here were great,” Woolley said.  “Everybody here has just treated us so well and made every door open to us.  So leaving is kind of a hard thing.  You like staying here – I’d like to stay here.  But you’ve got to move to where the races are at.  But we’ve really enjoyed it and it’ll be an experience a man will never forget.”

    The run in the West Virginia Derby is the first step on a summer-fall campaign for Mine That Bird that is also expected to include a bid for the $1 million Shadwell Travers (GI) at Saratoga on Aug. 29 and the ultimate goal of a run in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) on Nov. 7 over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.

    Woolley liked what his saw from Mine That Bird on Friday as the son of Birdstone bucked and played as he walked under the shedrow minutes before his departure.

    “He’s doing great,” Woolley said.  “He’s really climbing that peak that we’re looking for and really doing good.  So I’m glad I trained him here and the horse stayed healthy and sound over this racetrack, so we’re ready to roll on, I guess.”

    Mine That Bird is scheduled to work on Monday at Mountaineer, a move that Woolley said would be a “soft half-mile or five-eighths.”

    The Kentucky Derby winner embarks on the second-half of his 2009 campaign with a record of 5-2-1 in 11 races and earnings of $2,121,581. 

Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Serte Equine’s Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), turned in a sharp four-furlong work on Monday in his final major training move at Churchill Downs prior to his scheduled run in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby (GII) on Aug. 1 at Mountaineer.

    Jockey Jamie Theriot was in the saddle as the Chip Woolley-trained Birdstone gelding covered the distance over a fast track in :48.20.  Churchill Downs clockers caught Mine That Bird in fractional times of :12.20, :24.80 and :36.80 and he galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.20.  Mine That Bird’s work, which came just after the break for track maintenance, ranked as the fourth-fastest of 31 moves at the distance on the cool and sunny morning under the historic Twin Spires.

    “He finished up well and he’s going into the race very well,” said Theriot.  “You can’t ask for any better.  I told Chip that he’s going into the race fantastic.”

    Woolley said he had originally planned a relatively easy half-mile for Mine That Bird, but decided Sunday night that the Kentucky Derby winner might need something a bit stronger as he approaches his first race since a third-place run behind Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes (GI) on June 6.  Mine That Bird will work one final time prior to the West Virginia Derby next Monday at Mountaineer.

    “The horse is going to be eight weeks between races, and I got to studying last night and told Jamie that I wanted him to start galloping out strong from the five-eighths and I want him really working when he hits the half-mile pole,” Woolley said.  “I told Jamie if we’re going to be dead fit, we’re going to have to step it out and Jamie said he was just super-strong.  So we ended up really getting almost a three-quarter mile work out of him.  Now we can go to Mountaineer and no matter what the track’s like we can go soft over there.  Instead of having to let him work hard over there, we can get real soft one and stretch out over the ground and get a feel for it.”

    Woolley said shipping to Mountaineer and a different racing surface is a concern, but he’s confident that Mine That Bird will be able to handle the challenge.

    “That scares you anywhere you go,” he said  “That track (at Mountaineer) has a tendency to really be loose, but I do feel like if there’s a horse in the world that’s going to go over there and get over it easy and do it well, it’s him.  He’s so light and gets over the ground so easy, it seems like he takes his racetrack with him anywhere he goes.”
    
    The usually low-keyed Woolley admitted to excited about the prospect of seeing Mine That Bird return to competition for the first time since he burst onto the scene with his remarkable Triple Crown run that opened with his 50-1 upset in the “Run for the Roses” and also included a runner-up finish to Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness (GI).  

    “I’m ready to go back to running,” said Woolley.  “It was enjoyable to be here the first month after the Belmont to just kind of relax and rest.  It had been a pretty long run and with my broken leg it takes twice as much out of you.  It gave me a chance to rest my leg and do a little healing, but now though I’m ready.  I’m definitely ready to be rolling again and get back to running.”

    With the final work at Churchill Downs now behind Mine That Bird, Woolley’s plans call for Mine That Bird to travel by van to Mountaineer on Friday, July 24.  Woolley plans to depart Churchill Downs around 7 a.m. (EDT).

Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird continued his preparation for a return to competition in the Aug. 1 West Virginia Derby (GII) with a strong five-furlong work on Monday at Churchill Downs.

    Trainer Chip Woolley looked on from the grandstand as the gelded son of Birdstone finished strong while covering five furlongs over a “fast” track in 1:02.  Jockey Jamie Theriot was in the saddle as Mine That Bird galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.  

    Fractional times for the work were not available, but observers timed Mine That Bird’s final eighth of a mile in less than 12 seconds, which pleased Woolley.

    “The horse is doing super – he really worked good this morning,” Woolley said.  “He started off real soft – I imagine that first eighth of a mile must have been in 13-and-change.  But he really picked it up down the lane and was really firing off the ground down the lane.  He’s coming into it real good.  We’re really kind of excited and ready to pick up and head across there and run.”

    “He worked fantastic,” said Theriot. “He was nice and easy leaving the pole and he wanted me to pick it up in the last eighth of a mile and he came home in 11, so it was exactly what we wanted from him.”

    Woolley said Mine That Bird would work again next Monday, July 20, at Churchill Downs, which is scheduled to be his final local work before the West Virginia Derby.  The race will be his first since he finished third to Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes (GI) on June 6 at Belmont Park.  The schedule now calls for Mine That Bird to ship to Mountaineer Park on Friday, July 24.

    “We’ll breeze him one soft one over the racetrack over there (at Mountaineer) and run,” Woolley said.  “After that we’ll head straight to Saratoga (for the Grade I Shadwell Travers on Aug. 29).”

    The work by Mine That Bird ranked as 12th fastest out of 18 moves at the distance.

Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Serte Thoroughbreds’ Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), tuned up for a return to competition with a sharp four-furlong work on Tuesday at Churchill Downs.

    Jockey Jamie Theriot was aboard the gelded son of Birdstone as he covered the half-mile over a “fast” track in :49.40.

    Mine That Bird started slowly, but finished fast as he covered the distance in fractional times of :13.20, :25.60 and :38 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.80.  The clocking reflects a final eight in 11:40 and he galloped out the extra furlong in :12.40.

    “He did it very easy,” said Theriot.  “He came off the track bouncing.”

    “The horse looked perfect – he did just what I asked,” said trainer Chip Woolley.  “Jamie did a good job on him. He started off a little slow and picked it up all the way.  It looked like he got the last eighth in :11-and-two and he was :12-and-two past the wire in another eighth, so he looked sharp.  That was what we were looking for.”

    Mine That Bird is training toward a run in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby (Grade II) at Mountaineer on Aug. 1.  That race would be his first since a third-place run behind Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes (GI) on June 6.

    The Kentucky Derby winner is scheduled to work again on Monday, July 13 and could remain in his familiar surroundings at Churchill Downs until just before race day at the West Virginia track.

    “I haven’t decided for sure if I’ll take him and work him one time at Mountaineer right before the race or just stay here and go into the race from here,” Woolley said.  “Either way, the horse is doing good and is ready to roll.”

    A Triple Crown run that included his win in the Kentucky Derby, a runner-up finish to Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness (GI) and his third-place run in the Belmont Stakes left Mine That Bird’s record at 5-2-1 in 11 races with earnings of $2,121,581.

A wet track prompted trainer Chip Woolley to delay by a day a scheduled Monday work at Churchill Downs for Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I).

The Birdstone gelding instead galloped once around the one-mile Churchill Downs track that was officially listed as muddy. Regular exercise rider Rudy Gallegos was aboard for Monday’s training activity.

Woolley said Mine That Bird would breeze just after the mid-session break for track maintenance on Tuesday, July 7 and jockey Jamie Theriot would be aboard for the move. The Kentucky Derby winner should hit the track around 8:30 a.m. (EDT).

“The track was a little wet on top today and had no reason to rush him, so we just decided to wait until tomorrow to work him,” said Woolley. “We can work him back in six days next Monday and be back on our regular schedule.”

Mine That Bird finished third to Summer Bird in his most recent effort in the Belmont Stakes (GI) on June 6. He is being pointed toward a return to competition in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby (GII) at Mountaineer on Aug. 1.

In other training moves over the muddy surface, King of the Roxy continued tow work toward his comeback for trainer Todd Pletcher with a five-furlong move in 1:01.40, which was the best of seven works at the distance. Early Times Mint Julep (GIII) winner Acoma breezed four furlongs for trainer David Carroll in :49.80 as she points toward a possible run in the Beverly D. (GI) at Arlington Park. Stone Legacy, a distant runner-up to Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks (GI), breezed four furlongs in :49.40 for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird worked a half-mile in :51 over a fast track Monday morning at Churchill Downs in his first serious training move since a third-place finish to Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes (GI) on June 6.

ockey Calvin Borel was aboard for the first in a series of five breezes leading to a scheduled run in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby (Grade II) on Aug. 1 at Mountaineer.

    Working well off the rail in the four path, Mine That Bird clicked off fractions of :12.80, :25.20, :38.20 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:04.40. The half-mile time was the 30th fastest of 42 at the distance.

    Coming off the track, Borel gave a big thumbs up to trainer Chip Woolley.

    “He came off the track bouncing just like he was before the Derby,” Borel said. “He’s ready. He doesn’t need much. He’s playful and happy and back to right where he was before the Derby.”
    Woolley thought the work would be a little faster.

    “I thought he’d go in :49 or :50 because he’s a little fresh, the freshest he’s ever been,” Woolley said. “I thought he’d be in the bridle a little more, but he looked good and came back cool as a cucumber. He was a little more into the bridle at Belmont and got a little shook up. Believe me, I like it a lot better this way.”

    Owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, Mine That Bird will walk Tuesday and return to the track Wednesday with another half-mile work scheduled for next Monday, July 6.

    “His work next week will be sharper and then we will back off a bit in the next one,” Woolley said of the schedule that calls for a five-furlong work on July 13.

    Woolley is contemplating a change in his travel schedule to Mountaineer in Chester, W.Va. Originally, the trainer wanted to have two works over the track there, and it could still happen.

    “I may ship up later and have just one breeze there,” Woolley said. “The Bird doesn’t need to take his racetrack with him. He has run on that fast track at Sunland and the deep, sandy track at Belmont. He will still have a work on the 20th, the only question is where.”

    After the West Virginia Derby, Woolley has targeted the $1 million Shadwell Travers Stakes (Grade I) at Saratoga on Aug. 29 where Mine That Bird possibly could meet up with Kentucky Oaks (GI) and Preakness (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra, the outstanding 3-year-old filly who won last Saturday’s Grade I Mother Goose by a record 19 ¼ lengths in stakes-record time at Belmont Park. Mine That Bird fell a length short of catching Rachel Alexandra in the May 16 Preakness.

    “If it happens, it would be a good thing for racing and that would be a great spot to do it,” Woolley said. “Let’s just see where things fall.”

    An hour before he worked Mine That Bird, Borel sent Northern Dancer (GIII) runner-up Warrior’s Reward through a five-furlong work in 1:00.20, the fastest of 23 at the distance.

Warrior’s Reward covered the distance in fractional times of 12:80, :24.80, :36.60 and :48.40 and galloped out six furlongs in a brisk 1:12.80.  The colt’s gallop-out clocking was a full second faster than any of three works at the distance.

Trained by Ian Wilkes for A. Stevens Miles Jr., Warrior’s Reward is scheduled to leave Tuesday for Belmont Park and a start in Saturday’s $200,000 Dwyer (Grade II) in which a good effort could put the son of Medaglia d’Oro on track for a possible Travers run.

WOOLLEY CHARTS COURSE FOR MINE THAT BIRD: WEST VIRGINIA DERBY AND TRAVERS – Trainer Chip Woolley said Friday morning that the West Virginia Derby (Grade II) at Mountaineer Park would be the next start for Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Mine That Bird.

    “The West Virginia Derby fits our schedule the best and that’s the main thing,” Woolley said. “From there we will go to the Travers with the ultimate goal being the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

    The $750,000-guaranteed West Virginia Derby will be run at 1 1/8 miles at Mountaineer on Aug. 1. The $1 million Shadwell Travers (Grade I) will be run at 1 ¼ miles on Aug. 29 at Saratoga.

    After the Travers, the route to the Breeders’ Cup to be run Nov. 7 at Santa Anita remains uncharted.

    “The Breeders’ Cup is 10 weeks after the Travers,” Woolley said. “He does not need an out on the Pro-Ride. He has been on the artificial and he won four in a row over the synthetic last year at Woodbine. I’d like to fly him in there two or three weeks before and have two breezes over the track, but we can sneak a race in there if we need it.”

    Owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, Mine That Bird walked the shedrow at Barn 42 on Friday, a day after he returned to the track for the first time since his third-place finish to Summer Bird in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (GI).

    “I may jog him Saturday rather than wait until Sunday because he is so fresh,” Woolley said. “I’d rather have him like that than the other way. I may go every other day, because I don’t want him to hurt himself.”

    Woolley had planned to track Mine That Bird one day and then walk two.  He said that Mine That Bird would resume full training next Sunday.

    “That way he would have had two full weeks off,” Woolley said. “We may stay here all the way (before the West Virginia Derby) and then go straight up to Saratoga.”

    Woolley, who has been on crutches since tearing his right leg up in a motorcycle accident this winter, was able to put a shoe on his right foot Thursday.

    “First time I have done that in three months and three weeks since Feb. 22,” Woolley said. “The doctor said I can put 20 to 40 pounds off pressure on it and it feels good to be able to walk a little on it.”

RESEARCHER BEATS THE RAIN IN FIRST DASH AT THE DOWNS – Rutledge Farm’s Researcher beat the rain Thursday upon arriving at Churchill Downs. Now, the question is can he beat seven other rivals in Saturday’s 28th running of the $660,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

“We had just unloaded him at the barn at six o’clock when the rain started,” trainer Jeff Runco said. “We didn’t hit any rain at all coming in.”

Listed as the co-third choice at 4-1 on the morning line for the Foster, Researcher shipped in from his home base at Charles Town (W.Va.) for his first venture into Kentucky. Researcher will break from post position five under Calvin Borel, who won the 2006 Stephen Foster aboard longshot Seek Gold.

The Foster will be Researcher’s first start since he won the Charles Town Classic at 1 1/8 miles on April 18 in which he defeated $1.9 million earner Commentator and eight others.  Runco would have preferred a race for Researcher between the Classic and the Foster, but couldn’t find the right spot for the 5-year-old Virginia-bred gelding.

    “There was no race that would fit and then come back here in a timely fashion,” Runco said of Researcher, who has compiled a career record of 17-10-3-2 for earnings of $676,809.  He shipped to New York to win last fall’s Queens County (GII) at Aqueduct.

    Runco, who rode at Churchill Downs but never has saddled a starter as a trainer, explained Researcher’s only off-the-board finishes.

    “The day he ran eighth in his third start, a horse bumped him and he hit the rail and came back with a nasty cut,” Runco said. “In the Stymie (in which Researcher was fifth), he was picking up nine pounds off a layoff and he had to steady two or three times and just flattened out.”

    Researcher has a record of 8-4-3-0 at the Foster distance of 1 1/8 miles.  Although he dodged Thursday’s rain, Runco would not mind seeing some more showers Saturday.

    “He likes the mud,” Runco said. “Two races back when he won by 22, he broke the track record.”

MACHO AGAIN INDICATES HE COULD BE FOSTER FACTOR – After West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again won last year’s Derby Trail, trainer Dallas Stewart told one and all that the colt was sitting on a big effort going into the Preakness (GI).

    Macho Again then ran second to Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, one of the highlights in a year that produced three victories and two seconds from 10 starts and earnings of $731,427.

    Fast forward a year to Saturday’s Stephen Foster Handicap at 1 1/8 miles and there is Macho Again, sitting with two bullet works in his holster.

    “When he is on top of his game, he will show you,” Stewart said. “He has been doing great since the Alysheba and his last two works have been exceptional.”

    A 4-year-old son of Macho Uno, Macho Again has a 4-2-1-0 record at Churchill Downs with his only off-the-board finish coming in the Grade III Alysheba on May 1, when he finished sixth, beaten 4 ¼ lengths by Stephen Foster rival Bullsbay.

    “There was no pace in the race (:48.60 for a half and 1:13.40 for three-quarters), plus it was a mile and a sixteenth,” Stewart said. “He’s better at a mile and an eighth.”

    Macho Again, who won the New Orleans Handicap (GII) earlier this year, will break from post position under Robby Albarado and will carry 117 pounds.

“We’re getting 7 pounds from Einstein,” Stewart said, referring to the likely race favorite and starting high weight. “He’s going to be tough and he’s been looking real good galloping.”

BEAUTICIAN MAY BE FOLLOWING IN BIG HOOFPRINTS – A couple of weeks ago, trainer Ken McPeek called Take Charge Lady “probably my favorite horse that I’ve had.”

    A possible successor to the “Lady” may have been unveiled at Churchill Downs last Friday when Beautician won at first asking in taking a 5 ½-furlong race by 2 lengths in 1:04.71, one of the fastest times of the meet for the distance.

    “She could be any kind of horse,” McPeek said, adding that Beautician could show up in the Debutante (Grade III), a six-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies on June 27.

    Take Charge Lady, who posted a career record of 22-11-7-0 with earnings of $2,480,377, is a daughter of Dehere out of the Rubiano mare Felicita. Beautician is also a daughter of Dehere out of the Rubiano mare Caroni.

    “I picked them both out at Keeneland sales,” said McPeek, who got Take Charge Lady for $175,000 and Beautician for $110,000. “I had that (the breeding) in mind when I got her (Beautician). The two have a lot of the same qualities other than the coloring.”

    Take Charge Lady, who was owned by Select Stable, is a bay and Beautician, owned by Peter Callahan, is a gray/roan.

    The runner-up as the favorite to eventual 3-year-old filly champion Farda Amiga in the 2003 Kentucky Oaks, Take Charge Lady’s wins included Keeneland’s Ashland (GI) and Spinster (GI), and won the latter twice.  She also won the Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) and Alcibiades (GII), and scored Grade III wins in the Dogwood, Silverbulletday, and. Arlington Matron.

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley moved closer to the 300-win mark at Churchill Downs on Thursday when he bookended the card with Gerivello in the opener and Speak of Kings in the nightcap. Foley, now with 297 Churchill Downs victories, is third in the trainer standings with 12 victories this spring, He has one horse entered Friday: Valentine Fever in the fourth.

    Trainer David Vance, who has sent out 299 winners at Churchill Downs, is represented by Citizen John in Friday’s seventh race as he bids to become the 11th conditioner with 300 victories at Churchill Downs.

    Trainer Bill Connelly, who has saddled 998 winners in his career, has two horses entered in Friday’s sixth race: Button Dancer and Princesa Marin.

Jockey Calvin Borel, whose two victories Thursday gave him 924 winners in his career at Churchill Downs, is named on eight mounts Friday. He needs one victory to equal Don Brumfield’s total of 925 for second all time at Churchill Downs behind Pat Day (2,482).

WORK TAB – Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain, working toward the Iowa Derby on June 26 at Prairie Meadows, worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 over a track labeled as “good” on Friday morning. The move was the sixth fastest of 27 at the distance.