As much criticism as horse racing takes for supposedly being cruelty to animals, it’s hard to have seen the Kentucky Derby and not thought you were watching a sporting/athletic event. This was a race in its simplest form, one where animals were competing. Sure, you mix in jockeys whipping the horses, trainers injecting steroids, deaths on the track, and things begin to get kind of fuzzy, but the race itself on Saturday was pretty exhilarating. Specifically, jockey Calvin Borel’s ride on Mine That Bird to win the Derby was extremely impressive. Check out the race in its entirety below, and then skip ahead to the 8:20 mark to see Borel’s run on Mine That Bird as it compares to his ride to win the ‘07 Derby aboard Street Sense. It’s pretty incredible:
If you heard the call on NBC, Tom Durkin was so stunned by the upset he didn’t even know Mine That Bird’s name until the race had already been won! Furthermore, to underscore the comeback ride by Borel, Durkin didn’t even mention Mine That Bird until the horse was out in front. Impressive ride by Borel. And a few quick cool facts about the gelding — he was purchased for only $9,500, and he got his name from the mare, Birdstone (‘04 Belmont Stakes winner), and the dame, Mining My Own. Quite a nice pedigree if you ask me.
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I counted the strides from the beginning of The Bird’s stretch run, and it took Mine That Bird about 70
strides to put away the field. Does anyone know how fast he ran the final 3/8ths. The pace was average, not slow, and Mine That Bird was making up ground from a 1:12 6 furlongs on the front end (and he was bringing up the back of the pack) so his last half mile must have been 22 and change quarters. That is really good. I couldn’t see the pole markers on the video so I hope the stop watches in the crowd picked up something.