Day After Derby Thoughts

Some random thoughts and notes from "upset city" at the Kentucky Derby.

The more you watch the Derby, the more you begin to really appreciate the masterful ride Calvin Borel gave Mine That Bird. There are very few jocks in the world that would have had the guts to take a horse through the tight spaces that Borel guided the Derby winner through.

I was speechless after watching the race over and over and not because a 50-1 longshot won the Derby and I lost every bet I had on the race: I was amazed that Borel found the holes to guide his horse to victory without fear and proved yet again that he can ride with any other jock out there.

To give you an idea how big of an impact Borel’s ride had, look no further than Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. On the Churchill Downs backside Sunday morning, the three-time Derby wining trainer gave the jockey the highest complement – he deserves a spot in Racing’s Hall of Fame.

“He’s the only one who could have pulled that off,” the white haired trainer said. “What he did was just incredible. He won that race. He sat back there and I watched the replay – and he’s last at the three-eighths pole – you just don’t do that.”

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Don’t kick yourself if you didn’t come up with Mine That Bird before the race. Not one expert handicapper did and the horse showed no particular likeness for the real dirt after thriving on the “artificial dirt’ in Canada last year.

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It’s hard to tell if this is a good group of 3-year-old colts since the Derby was run over a sloppy track and it gives every horse in the race a built in excuse. No one should be afraid of Mine That Bird but I hope that we see Kentucky Oaks champ Rachel Alexandra take a shot against the boys in either the Preakness or Belmont. She might well blow the doors off them.

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Some random stats:

• Here is a stat I couldn’t believe (and you probably won’t either). Mine That Bird’s 6 3/4-length victory is second largest in the race’s 135 year history. The largest was 8 lengths, accomplished four different times: Old Rosebud - 1914, Johnston - 1939, Whirlaway - 1941 and Assault - 1948. The last two horses won the Triple Crown. The ill-fated Barbaro won the Derby by 6 1/2-lengths in 2006.
  

• Mine That Bird was the second horse in five years to be winless in races during his 3-year-old campaign before the Derby. Giacomo (2005) entered the Derby off a fourth place finish in the Santa Anita Derby and was 0-for-3 before the “Run for the Roses.”

• This is the third straight year that the Derby winner had just two prep races. Before that, there were only two in the previous 60 years. This is an interesting trend that may become more popular among trainers as they may elect to give a horse more rest earlier in the year.