Veterinarian is part owner of Kentucky Derby winner
By: James M. Lewis -
DVM NEWSMAGAZINE
Louisville, Ky. -May 5, 2009- As cameras flashed, a veterinarian joined the
elite
crowd inside the winner's circle at this year's Kentucky Derby as part
owner of one the most improbable winners in the Derby's 135-year
history.
Leonard Blach, DVM, owner of Buena Suerte Equine in Roswell, N.M., and
his neighbor Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch together own Mine That
Bird, the gelding that hugged the rail and came from dead last at one
point to win the race by 6.75 lengths - the longest margin since
Triple Crown winner Assault won by eight lengths in 1946.
Running against 50-to-1 odds, the horse covered the muddy, 1.25-mile
course in 2 minutes, 2.66 seconds in front of 153,563 stunned
spectators.
Mine that Bird will run May 16 in the Preakness at Baltimore, the
second leg of the Triple Crown.
The winners' share of the $2.17 million Derby purse was about $1.4
million -- a good return on Blach's and Allen's reported $400,000
payment for the gelding, which brought only $9,500 at auction as a
yearling. But Mine That Bird has good racing genes: his sire,
Birdstone, beat Smarty Jones in the 2004 Belmont Stakes, and
Birdstone's sire, Grindstone, won the 1996 Kentucky Derby. Blach and
Allen purchased their horse, last year's 2-year-old champion in
Canada, after it won four consecutive races. Allen reportedly said
they wanted a true racehorse, not a stallion to retire for stud fees,
and didn't argue over the price.
Jockey Calvin Borel, who earned the nickname "Bo-rail" for his
penchant to run horses close to the rail, did just that aboard Mine
that Bird, working his way to the front from dead last; the inside
proved to be the driest, smoothest part of the track that was muddied
by rains the evening before. Borel also rode the 2007 Derby winner,
Street Sense.
Trainer Bennie (Chip) Woolley Jr. hauled the horse in a van on a
21-hour trip from New Mexico to Louisville, stopping once in Texas to
allow it to run. Woolley stood in the winner's circle on crutches
after a recent motorcycle accident. He and the owners reportedly were
thinking of entering their horse in an upcoming Texas race, but
changed their minds and decided to go for the roses despite the odds.
Mine That Bird returned the second-largest payout in Derby history --
$103.20, $54 and $25.80. Pioneer of the Nile ran second and Musket Man
third in the 19-horse field. Morning-line favorite I Want Revenge was
scratched before the race because of lameness in the left front foot.