November 28, 2010 - The curtain dropped on the Churchill Downs Fall Meet on Sunday, Nov. 28 with a farewell salute to 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, who is heading home to New Mexico after retiring from his career on the track.
Co-owners
Dr. Leonard Blach and Mark Allen were joined by trainer
Chip Woolley and exercise rider Charlie Figueroa, who
traveled from New Mexico for a ceremony in the regular
winner’s circle following Sunday’s seventh race in which
fans provided warm applause and affection for Mine That
Bird, the tiny gelding who shocked the sports world when
he won Derby 135 under jockey Calvin Borel at odds of
50-1 – the second-biggest upset in the history of
America’s greatest race.
Almost 19 months after Woolley, with a broken right
leg, drove Mine That Bird from New Mexico to Louisville
for his totally unexpected victory at 50-1 in the
Kentucky Derby, the trainer was back at Churchill Downs
on Sunday for the diminutive gelding's farewell
ceremony.
Because Woolley was on crutches and the track was muddy,
he was unable to participate in the fabled walk that
many trainers and owners make while accompanying their
Derby horses from the backside into the paddock for
America's favorite race. Now sound, Woolley walked
alongside Mine That Bird, co-owners Mark Allen and Dr.
Leonard Blach and exercise rider Charlie Figueroa as
they brought the horse before the Downs crowd and into
the paddock, where fans cheered and lined up to get a
glimpse.
