What Now For Mine That Bird?

Will they bring Calvin Borel back or won't they?

That's the question now left to Mine That Bird's owners and trainer after Mike Smith (left) announced he was vacating the Belmont mount on the Derby winner for a race in California.

After arriving back in Kentucky Monday night and setting up back in their familiar surroundings, trainer Chip Woolley said he's made no decision as to who will fill the void left by Smith.

The wild card, of course, is super filly Rachel Alexandra (right). Her trainer, Steve Asmussen, has been non-committal about their plans for the Belmont. That decision leaves Borel in the lurch until the Rachel crew makes up their mind.

“I don’t know,” Woolley said. “It’s kinda funny. You’d think if you get a horse this good, you’d keep one, but apparently not. So we’ll deal with that here in a couple of days and we’ll see what happens.”

There could be a huge list of great riders available and based on Woolley's comments, there are a lot of agents that have called him looking to pitch their clients to take the mount on Mine That Bird.

Racing would benefit greatly from having Borel back in the saddle on Mine That Bird but it's a tough call for the Bird Crew.

Let's see if Woolley (left) sticks by his word and makes a quick decision. The longer he waits, the more chances that we will get to see Borel back.

We can only hope that the Woolley and company will give enough time to Asmussen and Borel to make their decision because if Woolley is worried about the other riders being available - don't. There are still many jockeys who would love a shot at riding a Derby winner and Preakness runner-up.

Photos courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire