Mine That Bird will be running at the Preakness
BALTIMORE - Mine That Bird is headed to the Preakness. The trainer of the gelding that won the Kentucky Derby at 50-1 odds said his horse will run in the May 16 Preakness at Pimlico, the second leg of the Triple Crown.
BALTIMORE - Mine That Bird is headed to the Preakness. The trainer of the gelding that won the Kentucky Derby at 50-1 odds said his horse will run in the May 16 Preakness at Pimlico, the second leg of the Triple Crown.
"I've never been to Baltimore, but it looks like I won't be able to say that in a few days," trainer Bennie Woolley Jr. said yesterday.
Woolley said the horse will remain at Churchill Downs in Louisville at least until next Tuesday before shipping to Baltimore. He jogged a mile at Churchill yesterday morning and will have light jogs each of the next two days.
Woolley said there are no plans for the horse to have a full workout before the Preakness. Mine That Bird, ridden by Calvin Borel, won the Derby by 63/4 lengths over Pioneerof the Nile - the largest margin of victory since Assault's triumph in 1946.
On Sunday, a day after the big upset, Woolley said there's "no obligation" to go to the Preakness, adding: "You've got to do what's best for the horse."
The last Derby winner to skip the Preakness was an injured Grindstone in 1996. The last healthy Derby winner to miss it was Spend A Buck, who in 1985 ran in the Jersey Derby at Garden State Park instead.
Ratings up. The Derby's TV ratings were the highest in 17 years. NBC said Saturday's coverage of Mine That Bird's win drew a 10.2 overnight rating and 22 share. That's up 7 percent from last year's 9.5/21.