Caught the last half of this movie last night on TV. Mine That Bird at the Kentucky Derby. A story not too badly ruined and made hokey by the movie industry. Footage of the race was stunning. What a day that was. What a horse!!! What a ride!!! Good thing he was little enough to fit through on the rail. I remember watching the race when it was broadcast live. Recommended movie viewing for horse racing affectionados. I’m presuming that Mine That Bird played himself in the movie in the barn scenes, as did several of the other characters.
I remember watching that movie when it came out.
Another good racing movie I watched recently was RIDE LIKE A GIRL. It takes place in Australia and is a true story. Really, really well done.
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50-1 is my favorite horse racing movie. It’s so bad it’s good. It’s like the didn’t even try to make it high quality because the whole story was nutty enough on its own. And the actual racing parts were done with more integrity that usual for Hollywood.
I will never forget how angry I was the day Mine That Bird won. :lol: I had some serious wagers on the race, none involving him. But now I look back and just laugh. He’s also won me over with his trail riding and ball playing escapades in his retirement years.
The second best part of that Derby was Tom Durkin practically blowing the call - no mention of Mine That Bird as he starting gaining ground. He mentioned him as they started into the backstretch to note that he was far behind the rest. The next time Durkin scrambled for his name was deep in the homestretch when MTB was 3 lengths ahead and drawing away…
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@smoofox thanks for sharing that link. I had forgotten how badly the call was blown.
It truly was a once in a lifetime performance! I appreciate it so much more now that the sting of lost money has faded. :lol:
Calvin Bo-rail!!! He was so tiny!! And I forgot that the future Triple Crown sire Pioneerofthenile was in there!
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Ive never seen it but Mine That Bird is my all time favorite Triple Crown contender. He was gutsy and he was horribly underestimated. Add into the mix; Calvin, who has always been a man to get the job done when it was most needed. I always thought Mine That Bird was a very good looking horse.
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I could not agree with this more! I love, love Tom Durkin, and it was great to hear this call again!
50-1 was a fun movie. My only quibble with it was the addition of the fictional, and totally contrived and unnecessary love interest angle. I could have done without that!
If it wasn’t based on fact it would have been too farfetched to believe! The way he trailed so far behind then led by a similar margin. Loved it.
Yeah, on watching he realized some horse was coming through on the rail faster than I remember, but at the beginning he didn’t just fumble, he FORGOT Mine That Bird was in the race (though to be fair he was ridiculously far back.)
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