Mine That Bird will run in the Preakness

Connections for Mine That Bird told the Maryland Jockey Club on Monday that the Kentucky Derby winner will run in the 134th Preakness Stakes.

Mike Gathagan, vice president for communications at the MJC, said he was told Mine That Bird would leave Louisville, Ky., either Monday or Tuesday of next week and will run in the race.

“It is good for the sport,” Mine That Bird trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley said. “You cannot have a Triple Crown winner without having the Derby winner in the Preakness. That played into our decision, but the horse looks super. I have never been to Baltimore, but it looks like I won’t be able to say that in a few days.”

Woolley said Sunday he wanted to see how the horse recovered before making a decision on the Preakness with co-owners Mark Allen and Leonard Blach.

The surprise Derby winner jogged a mile on a sloppy Churchill Downs track Monday morning in front of Woolley, Allen and Blach, but Woolley said there are no plans for the horse to have a full workout before the Preakness.

“Today I just want him to get the kinks out,” Woolley said. “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.”

Ridden by jockey Calvin Borel, Mine That Bird won the Derby by 6 3/4 lengths in a historic upset on a sloppy track on Saturday. Sold for $9,500 as a yearling, Mine That Bird took an inside route to the stunning victory.

“Calvin has given two of the greatest rides in Kentucky Derby history,” Woolley said of the winning jockey, who also rode Street Sense to victory in 2007. “To come from last and go by 18 head, that’s just incredible.”

--

ken.murray@baltsun.com