5 Lessons from Mine That Bird
- by Matt Douglas, Founder &
CEO, Punchbowl Software
This past Saturday was the 135th running of the
Kentucky Derby. In a shocking victory, the 50-1 longshot Mine That
Bird won the Derby. In the history of the Derby, it was the second
highest payout for a Derby winner (the only higher payout was in
1913). In the lead up to the Derby, there was hours of analysis by
countless experts, and not one of them picked Mine That Bird to Win,
Place, or Show in the Derby. So what went wrong? How did all of the
experts, pundits, and the betting public get it so wrong? Here are a
few lessons that I think we can all learn from this year’s Derby.
And it’s probably no surprise that I believe these lessons are
useful for a startup too.
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Plans to block Rachel are
scrapped
By David Grening -
The Daily Racing Form
The specter of superstar filly Rachel
Alexandra had horsemen prepared to go to desperate measures on
Sunday to try to keep her from running in Saturday's 134th Preakness
Stakes at Pimlico.
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Assorted
Triple Crown ramblings
NTRA
It’s amazing what a good underdog story can do.
Notice how Mine That Bird seems to have temporarily sparked more
interest in horse racing among the so-called mainstream sports
media? Rachel Alexandra might win the
Preakness. If she repeats her Kentucky Oaks, she wins by daylight.
And it’s a great storyline for the sport. But that doesn’t change
the opinion here that she shouldn’t be running. Why bring her back
in 15 days after such a gigantic win? What’s the hurry? What
happened to doing what’s best for the horse?
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Coast looks clear for
Rachel
By Jay Privman/
The Daily Racing Form
5/11/2009-Thirteen just might prove to be a
lucky number. Led by Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and
Kentucky Oaks-winning filly Rachel Alexandra, a field of 13 was
expected to be entered Wednesday in the 134th Preakness Stakes, to
be run Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. If that number
holds, or goes no higher than 14, it will avoid one of the more
embarrassing scenarios in the history of the Triple Crown.
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Mine That Bird to Baltimore;
Borel to ‘Jay Leno’
By
JOE DRAPE - The Rail
May 12, 2009 -
With Bob Baffert looking on, Chip Woolley
loaded Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird into his trailer and
pulled out of Churchill Downs headed for Baltimore and the 134th
running of the Preakness Stakes.
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Mine
That Bird Rolls Into Baltimore -
BLOODHORSE
May 13, 2009 - Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird
arrived at Pimlico ahead of schedule May 12 with a Baltimore City
Police escort at 6:44 p.m. after leaving Churchill Downs at
9:06.a.m.
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No coddling for Mine That Bird
By Marcus Hersh
BALTIMORE - 5/13/2009 - Kentucky Derby
winner Mine That Bird made a journey of nearly 10 hours from
Louisville, Ky., to Baltimore in a horse trailer, and arrived
just before 7 p.m. Tuesday at a racetrack he had never seen.
Many horses would have an easy morning the following day,
perhaps walking the shed row, grazing, and doing little else.
Not Mine That Bird. He was up and at 'em and out to the track
just before 7:30 on Wednesday morning, standing in the starting
gate before galloping about 1 1/2 miles. So much for a light
day.
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Kentucky Derby Winner Mine
That Bird Breezes
By Ron Mitchell -
BLOODHORSE
May 13, 2009 - Trainer Chip Woolley, who had said
Mine That Bird would not have a workout prior to the May 16
Preakness Stakes (gr. I), apparently called an audible and breezed
the son of Birdstone at Churchill Downs May 11.
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'Rachel,' Pioneerof the
Nile Ship to Maryland
May 14, 2009 (From
Churchill
Downs)
The exodus of Churchill Downs-based contenders for
134th running of the $1-million Preakness (gr. I) was completed May
13 when major contenders Rachel Alexandra and Pioneerof the Nile
stepped onto separate vans around 12:30 p.m. EDT for the short trip
to Louisville International Airport for their flight to Baltimore.
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 Rachel draws outside post
for Preakness
By Jay Privman / Barbara D.
Livingston -
The Daily Racing Form
5/13/2009 - Mine That Bird, ready for his close-up
Wednesday at Pimlico, is not the Preakness morning-line favorite
despite his Kentucky Derby victory.
BALTIMORE - Now, is that any way to treat a lady? Rachel Alexandra,
the Kentucky Oaks winner, landed the outside post when a field of 13
was entered on Wednesday for the 134th Preakness Stakes on Saturday
at Pimlico Race Course.
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UFOs
seemed more real than Mine That Bird's chances
The horse with connections in Roswell, N.M., somehow came through in
Kentucky and will go for second leg of the Triple Crown at
Preakness.
LA Time
- By Rick Maese - May 14, 2009
Reporting from Roswell, N.M. -- On the
outskirts of town, a couple of miles away from the UFO souvenir
shops and the street lights decorated with alien eyes, the cowboy
and the veterinarian got together a few weeks ago to discuss their
options.
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Woolley: Pimlico Surface
'Looks Super'
By Tom LaMarra - May 14, 2009
BLOODHORSE
The chance of rain and potential for a wet racing surface
don’t bother
trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. But he said dry and fast
conditions
wouldn’t hurt the chances of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands
(gr. I) winner Mine That Bird.
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Mine That Bird's Hollywood Connection:
Co-Owner Blach Hopes for Another Storybook Ending in Preakness
by Fran Jurga | 15 May 2009 |
The Jurga Report
Leonard Blach, DVM: the name sounds like a
veterinarian. When you look him up, he checks out. He's a Colorado
State graduate, from a ranching family, owns a New Mexico clinic.
But the softspoken co-owner of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird
is actually a veterinarian and race horse owner with Hollywood ties
and a movie set past that make the Mine That Bird's story one level
more surreal and storybook than they may already appear. This
veterinarian has his union card and is ready for his close-up.
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Gender not the issue for
Rachel
By Andrew Beyer - 2009,
The Washington Post
BALTIMORE - 5/15/2009- Millions of casual fans
will be watching the Preakness on television to see if Rachel
Alexandra can become the first member of her sex to win the race
since 1924. Many of them will surely misunderstand the nature of
filly vs. colt confrontations in horse racing. While there are valid
reasons to question whether Rachel Alexandra can win at Pimlico,
none of these questions involves her gender.
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Bird Not the Word for
Borel Leading to Preakness
Borel: 'Something stupid' would have to happen for
Rachel Alexandra to lose Preakness
By BETH HARRIS AP Racing Writer
BALTIMORE May 15, 2009 - Calvin Borel has
complete confidence his horse will win the Preakness, the kind of
gravitas expected from the Kentucky Derby-winning jockey.
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'Rachel'
Draws Post 13 as 8-5 Favorite
By Jason Shandler-
BLOODHORSE
May 15, 2009 - Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) winner
Rachel Alexandra drew post 13 and was installed as the solid 8-5
morning-line favorite for the $1-million Preakness Stakes (gr. I)
May 16 at Pimlico.
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Thanks to Rachel
Alexandra, 134th Preakness Filled with Mystery and Intrigue
DAVID GINSBURG | AP Sports
Writer | Chicago
Tribune
May 16, 2009 - BALTIMORE (AP) — Even if Rachel
Alexandra doesn't win the Preakness, the horse racing industry
should be indebted to the filly and her owners for providing an aura
of mystery and intrigue to the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
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It's Mine That Bird's
moment of truth -
Kentucky Derby winner has chance to prove victory wasn't a fluke
By Kevin Van Valkenburg |
kevin.vanvalkenburg@baltsun.com
May 16, 2009 - On the eve of the Preakness, if there
is any part of you that believes a Triple Crown is still a
possibility, then you should probably view Mine That Bird's
improbable victory in the Kentucky Derby this way:
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Mine That Bird seeks respect among 11 colts
-by David Ginsburg - Saturday, 16
May 2009
BALTIMORE — The fascination over Rachel Alexandra’s
participation in the Preakness has taken much of the attention away
from Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, who’s been lumped into
the same category with 11 other colts vying to defeat the favored
filly.
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Figueroa Enjoys His Time with Mine That Bird
By Amanda Duckworth -
BLOODHORSE
May 16, 2009 - As Mine That Bird, winner of
the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), quietly goes
about his business at Pimlico in preparation for the May 16
Preakness Stakes (gr. I), so does the man who has been at his side
since the Birdstone gelding’s unlikely Triple Crown quest began.
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Rachel Alexandra jockey
Calvin Borel relishes role as favorite in Preakness
BY Jerry Bossert -
NY DAILY NEWS - Saturday, May 16th 2009
BALTIMORE - The focus on Saturday's Preakness Stakes
won't be on a he, it will be on a she.
Most of the racing world expects the filly, Rachel Alexandra, to
beat a field of boys that includes Kentucky Derby winner Mine That
Bird.
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Mine That Bird's Ex-Jockey Says Filly Will
Smoke Him
(Newser) – May 16, 2009 - Kentucky
Derby winner Mine That Bird has no chance of beating the Preakness
favorite, filly Rachel Alexandra, says her jockey Calvin Borel.
Borel ought to know; he’s the one who rode Bird to victory, before
jumping ship to Alexandra, the Daily News reports. “I don’t think he
can run with my filly, but he’ll run a big race," he says.
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Rallying around Rachel
Alexandra Sisterhood is betting on the filly to win
From
The Baltimore Sun
Ann Quasman, the host of a Baltimore
talk-radio show aimed at women, isn't exactly the world's biggest
horse racing fan.
But she's bursting with excitement - and feminine pride - over
Rachel Alexandra, the filly competing against history in today's
Preakness Stakes. Quasman and many others predict the "girl horse"
will defeat the boys.
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Preakness Starters Opt for
Indoor Paddock
May 16, 2009 - by Claire Novak
It has long been the tradition for starters in
the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) to saddle on the turf course at Pimlico
Race Course, but more
than half of this year’s field—including morning-line favorite
Rachel Alexandra and Pioneerof the Nile—will be saddled indoors,
Maryland Jockey Club paddock judge Mario Verge said May 15.
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Rachel
Alexandra Struts Her Stuff In Preakness Stakes
Rachel Alexandra wins Preakness
BALTIMORE, 05-16-09 – A sprinkling of late
afternoon rain could not dampen the sparkling performance of
Stonestreet Stables LLC & Harold McCormick’s Rachel Alexandra, who
took it to the boys and won the 134th running of the Grade 1,
$1,100,000 Preakness Stakes Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.
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Mine That Bird shows he's
for real
By David Grening /
The Daily Racing Form
BALTIMORE - 5/16/2009-The connections of Mine
That Bird wanted to prove that the gelding's victory in the Kentucky
Derby was no fluke.
And even in defeat in Saturday's 134th Preakness Stakes, that's
exactly what they did.
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Mine
That Bird, Rachel Alexandra worthy of rivalry
By Bob Velin,
USA TODAY
BALTIMORE — May 16, 2009 - Mine That Bird
couldn't quite pull off another miracle Saturday in the Preakness
Stakes, but the small, New Mexico-bred gelding proved beyond a doubt
that his 50-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby was no fluke.
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Preakness Stakes Results
Baltimore - May 16, 2009 - The
$1.1 million Preakness Stakes (G1) is the second leg of the Triple
Crown, contested at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on the third
Saturday in May. Only 77,850, down significantly from the over
112,000 who came last year, were in attendance on a warm afternoon
with temperatures in the high 70's. Clouds passed through the day
but light showers did not start to fall until the post parade for
the Preakness, ending after the post-race ceremonies.
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'BIRD' OWNER WANTS REMATCH IN BELMONT
By ED FOUNTAINE -
NY Post
BRING IT, RACHEL! Dr. Leonard Blach, part owner of
Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, said he hopes his gelding gets
a rematch with Rachel Alexandra in the Belmont Stakes on June 6.
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Preakness
Notes with Kelly Dennington
May 16th marks the 134th running of the Preakness
Stakes, and this year it’s a recipe for one of the spiciest Maryland
chowders to come along in a month of Saturdays. First, take 12 of
the nation’s finest 3-year-old Thoroughbreds, toss in the phenomenal
filly Rachel Alexandra, topped with seasoned Cajun jockey Calvin
Borel, who gives up his Derby-winning mount just to be with her.
Finally, for that real down-home Southwestern flavor add the
incomparable Mine That Bird. A Champion at two in Canada, MTB flew
under the radar to capture the roses and leave the rest of the field
simmering. Will he and his connections taste victory again?
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'Bird' not the word on all
lips
By Jay Privman -
The Daily Racing Form
BALTIMORE - 5/16/2009-Chip Woolley, the
trainer of Mine That Bird, was standing alongside the outer rail
near the eighth pole at Pimlico Race Course on Thursday morning,
watching the Kentucky Derby winner gallop twice around the track in
preparation for the 134th Preakness Stakes here on Saturday. Only a
handful of media members were with him, and then a few fans wandered
over, seeking either an autograph from, or a picture with, Woolley.
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Opinions vary on running
Rachel
By David Grening /The
Daily Racing Form
BALTIMORE - 5/14/2009-While many fans and
horsemen are excited about the prospect of watching the superstar
filly Rachel Alexandra run against the boys in Saturday's Preakness
Stakes, there is at least one person who doesn't think it's such a
good idea.
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Setting the Scene on
Preakness Day
By Dan Liebman - May 16, 2009
BLOODHORSE
As of about 6:45 a.m. EDT, every horse was on
the grounds at Pimlico Race Course for the May 16 Preakness Stakes
(gr. I), the middle jewel of the Triple Crown.
The 2009 Preakness is the most intriguing in recent memory, with the
top four finishers from the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum!
Brands (gr. I) joined in the field for the first time by the winner
of the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I). And, the winner of the Oaks, Rachel
Alexandra, was not only made the morning-line favorite, but in the
advance wagering on-track May 15, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro was
installed the solid 3-2 choice.
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Preakness Kentucky Derby
winner Mine That Bird nearly triumphs again at Preakness
BALTIMORE -May 16, 2009 - Mike
Smith wasn't offering any excuses afterward, but he had to wonder if
Mine That Bird would have eventually caught Rachel Alexandra if he
wasn't forced to snatch up the reins after being blocked behind six
horses at the quarter pole in Saturday's Preakness.
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Who's Borel riding now?
By Jay Privman /
The Daily Racing Form
5/18/2009-Calvin Borel won the Preakness
aboard Rachel Alexandra, but he could get back on Mine That Bird.
The historic victory by the filly Rachel Alexandra over Kentucky
Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at
Pimlico means that there will be no Triple Crown by a horse this
year, but there are two scenarios pertaining to the June 6 Belmont
Stakes that could put Calvin Borel in position to make a little
history of his own, because no jockey has ever swept the Triple
Crown series in the same calendar year on two different horses.
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The Mine That Bird Drama,
Act Three
By LANE GOLD -
The Rail
May 19, 2009 - Mine That Bird received the
royal treatment at the Preakness, yet he can’t seem to keep a
jockey. What are the odds that a horse that wins the Kentucky Derby,
runs second in the Preakness and can’t keep his jockey?
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Heading Out: Mine That
Bird On the Road Again
May 19, 2009
Early on the morning of May 18, trainer Bennie “Chip”
Woolley had just loaded Mine That Bird into a horse trailer and was
preparing for the 9 ½-10 hour drive from Baltimore, Md., to
Louisville, where the little gelding had won the May 2 Kentucky
Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) before going on to finish
second in the May 16 BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (gr. I).
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Bird's Half-Brother Goes
to Dogwood
By Deirdre B. Biles - May 19,
2009
A Yonaguska half-brother to Kentucky Derby
Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner and BlackBerry Preakness
Stakes (gr. I) runner-up Mine That Bird brought $485,000 during the
opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in
training May 18 in
Timonium, Md. Dogwood Stable purchased the dark bay or brown colt
from Cary Frommer, agent for Paul Saylor.
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'Big Horse' Boost for
First-Crop Sires?
By Avalyn Hunter - Friday, May
22, 2009
If there’s one thing that never hurt a fledgling
stallion’s career, it’s a “big horse” in the first crop to race –
especially a Classic winner. Thanks to Mine That Bird (Kentucky
Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I)) and Rachel Alexandra
(Blackberry Preakness Stakes (gr.
I)), respectively, both Birdstone and Medaglia d’Oro have achieved
the distinction of becoming Classic sires with their first crops.
But how much of a boost will it really give them?
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Del Mar is after Mine That
Bird
May 23, 2009 - Monday, a
package that includes the stakes schedule for the upcoming Del Mar
meeting, a media guide and horsemen's information kit is scheduled
to be hand-delivered by a representative of the Del Mar Thoroughbred
Club to Mine That Bird trainer Chip Woolley at Churchill Downs in
Louisville.
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