He rode that horse just as he should have been ridden, and he rode the rail and then the horse just took off like a rocket. I think it was perfectly ridden. A LOT of credit needs to go to the jockey. The horse comes from behind and he was set up to do his job right. Way too go!!!
[QUOTE=VirginiaBred;4068225]
It will be really interesting to see how many mares go to him now.[/QUOTE]
None, he’s a gelding!! hahaha…
<<Originally Posted by VirginiaBred
It will be really interesting to see how many mares go to him now. >>
" None, he's a gelding!! hahaha... "
Umm, I think VirginiaBred is referring to MTB’s sire, Birdstone.
Just a guess.
LOL
First and most important, when Calvin was interviewed right after he hopped off and weighed out, they asked “how do you feel about the win?” the first words out of his mouth were “well, the horse won the race”. Don’t know where all of this not giving credit to the horse is coming from.
Besides some of what has already been mentioned, this is related to the “breed for the sales ring” that turns out to sometimes be at the expense of the track. They want strapping big, mature for their age, gorgeous and flashy to get those million dollar multiples…like one of the at least one of the badly beaten, underperforming favorites. The people/partnerships/syndicates who buy them are typically represented by the flashy media darling agents and trainers and they get all the press and publicity.
That price for a plain, small yearling of average size and development was probably fair at the time. And there are too many stallions breeding too many horses anyway. Nothing wrong with the gelding choice at all, may even have been in his best interests instead of the greed that forces early retirement for big breeding syndication prices.
Hey, maybe this means MTB will wind up at the Kentucky Horse Park!
I told my husband that I want a little Birdstone gelding, what a cute face!
And I rewatched Birdstone’s Belmont win. As far as MTB, the apple did not fall from the tree. Same kind of run just coming outside, not inside.
[QUOTE=findeight;4068696]
First and most important, when Calvin was interviewed right after he hopped off and weighed out, they asked “how do you feel about the win?” the first words out of his mouth were “well, the horse won the race”. Don’t know where all of this not giving credit to the horse is coming from.
Besides some of what has already been mentioned, this is related to the “breed for the sales ring” that turns out to sometimes be at the expense of the track. They want strapping big, mature for their age, gorgeous and flashy to get those million dollar multiples…like one of the at least one of the badly beaten, underperforming favorites. The people/partnerships/syndicates who buy them are typically represented by the flashy media darling agents and trainers and they get all the press and publicity.
That price for a plain, small yearling of average size and development was probably fair at the time. And there are too many stallions breeding too many horses anyway. Nothing wrong with the gelding choice at all, may even have been in his best interests instead of the greed that forces early retirement for big breeding syndication prices.[/QUOTE]
And historically, very few of the best race horses have been those big strapping flashy two year olds.
I think this also shows how much circumstance can change everything. It is hard to believe that a horse who can accelerate that could have been fourth in ANY race in New Mexico. I’m wondering what they learned about him that brought back his inner firecracker.
I just heard an interview this morning with the breeder and original owner/trainer in Canada. Both were still hoarse from Saturday and very very happy for their little horse that could! The trainer when asked if he had bet on the horse, said that he had not. Others around him wanted to and he told them not to waste their money… so instead of a $10 bet across the board (whatever that means… I am not a horse racing fan!), they placed a $5 bet and still won $450!!!
They really sounded happy and excited and the breeder is considering repeating the match. The mare did not race because she had a line fracture of the cannon bone (IIRC).
Found the interview on line:
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/toronto/ondemand/audio/may04kd_TOR.wma
[QUOTE=poltroon;4068829]
And historically, very few of the best race horses have been those big strapping flashy two year olds.
I think this also shows how much circumstance can change everything. It is hard to believe that a horse who can accelerate that could have been fourth in ANY race in New Mexico. I’m wondering what they learned about him that brought back his inner firecracker.[/QUOTE]
They learned to get rid of the other jockey 
If you watch his two rides in New Mexico (and lets be clear he’s not a New Mexico bred or even really a “NM” horse having raced and lived most his life in Canada) both were IMHO quite poor.
Video: Sunland Derby (Sunland Park) 3-29-09
(Above, he is #9 and the jockey guns him waaaaay too early at the 1/2 mile mark going on the outside no less. Lesson learned: smaller stride horses shouldn’t be 3 wide on the backstretch where the length of the race becomes that much longer.)
Video: Borderland Derby (Sunland Park) 2-28-09
(Above, he is #3 and once again the jockey sends him ahead too soon. Patience is a virtue and Calvin applied it so in the Derby, this jockey did not. Further he held for 2nd only because he kept him along the rail.)
If I was Calvin watching the replay I’d know that MTB doesn’t get rank but the prior jockey was all too eager to take the pace too soon and that from decades of riding the rail, if you have the nerves for it, is the shortest distance in any race:)
Agreed that recent history has proven that the very expensive, very “wow” 2-year old horses of August seen in say the Saratoga Special or Breeders’ Cup JV rarely ever hold that form to be a powerhouse come time for the American Classics. Only Street Sense has been able to break the BC JV jinx of holding that Grade 1 winning style from October at 2-yrs old to May at 3-yrs old. It is the late bloomers who generally drop a couple first starts, “get it”, then fill out in body size and make it work.
Hey! He is trained by a New Mexico trainer and owned by a NM based ranch. Don’t take away the moment of glory for us New Mexicans! We are proud of our “New Mexico horse”! :winkgrin: 
People were lamenting the trainer’s lack of acknowledgement of the horse. Not Calvin.
Calvin is incredibly exhuberant about loving on his mounts.
[QUOTE=Beverley;4065135]
And his current trainer went out of his way to give credit to the Canadian trainer by name.
For those who expressed concern that no one was ‘fussing’ over the horse- you might consider the possibility that some horses just don’t like being fussed over- I have owned a couple such. Even if that’s not the case, really, I don’t see the big deal and am surprised it was mentioned.[/QUOTE]
Agreed, some of my favorite TBs don’t want to be brushed, let alone fussed over by a couple of dozen punch-drunk racegoers.
That said, here’s a cute pic of Calvin Borel making a fuss over MTB…
Speaking of breeding, has anyone seen any comments from Mary Lou Whitney? She must be thrilled that her little homebred has sired a Derby winner–though she probably would have loved for that homebred to have been a Derby winner, himself.
[QUOTE=AllyCat;4066468]
The more I watch the NBC coverage, the more I realize how lazy our media has become. Not only do they focus on a minor “(fill in name of country we want to disparage) flu” so they don’t have to talk about real issues, they can’t even do their homework on sports any more. I watched the comment again and again with different interviewers with the trainer and I have to say, I don’t blame him one bit for getting snappy when being asked for the 90th time about the frickin drive to Louisville. They don’t call 'em the Press Corps(e) for nothing.[/QUOTE]
NBC SUCKS. I saw “creative” promos with Al Roker, the Real Housewives, Jay Leno, the @#@&8 National Football League before I saw a single horse. I also saw rappers, hookers, and Jessica Simpson’s ex-hubby — wait does NBC own MTV and VH1, too?
[QUOTE=Claudius;4066514]
I figure his last quarter was around 23.2…but being mathmatically challenged, I would like to put it to the more talented numerically to figure this out. But that sounds like one of the fastest last quarters in the Derby. No discussion in the media of his sensational burst of speed at the quarter, leaving those colts in his wake…the word “speed” is never mentioned with his name attached. am I missing something?[/QUOTE]
Secretariat did 23 1/5 for his last quarter.
[QUOTE=BestHorses;4065604]
Great race! Cranky trainer. Instead of being rude he could have said “I’m off to the winner’s circle!” and hobbled off. I wish the trainers/owners would have acknowledged the horse - it makes me feel like MTB is just a machine to them. They don’t have to hug and pat the horse if he doesn’t like it but they could have SAID something about the horse to recognize his amazing effort! I think the race announcer was stunned along with the rest of us to see some horse in the lead no one recognized. So great![/QUOTE]
Guys look at their horses different in a lot of cases than women do. My uncle is a whole lot like Chip came across. He didn’t love on horses etc. He said that the way he loved on them was to make sure they were well fed and well tended and well ridden. Maybe Chip feels the same way.
I’m not a big race fan, but I thouroughly enjoyed this race. I love Calvin to pieces, and the fact that that little horse came off that win with energy left, and good manners (the horse was on a loose rein and the lead line and could’ve cared less about the acrobatics going on topside.) impressed me to no end.
As for Friesian Fire-I watched him in the walk out from the backside to the paddocks, and thought he looked off-NQR- in that right rear. Was I seeing things?
[QUOTE=JER;4066691]
From the Blood-Horse, 05/11/04, “Birdstone Will Return ‘Home’ to Gainesway”
The Oaks runner-up, a Birdstone filly, was a Whitney homebred. They’ve bred a number of their mares to Birdstone, who was also bred by the Whitneys.[/QUOTE]
What his owner was saying made sense. That little horse was awesome. My 17 yr old said she could definitely see pole bending in his and Calvin’s futures the way they wove in and out. She was being facetious of course, but it was kind of neat.
[QUOTE=danceronice;4065089]
A $9500 50-1 shot who came by truck from New Mexico.
Calvin Borel is having a very good weekend.[/QUOTE]
Actually, horse was bought for $9500 by Cotey (trainer in Canada) and sold to the NM owner (crutches) and a co-owner for $400,000
Still $400,000 for a GELDING?! lol
It was a very good weekend for Marylou Whitney as she had a horse place in the Kentucky Oaks, won a race on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby and owns the sire of the Kentucky Derby winner:
Bloomberg May 4, 2009 “Vanderbilt Widow to Reap Windfall From Cowboy’s Derby Victory”
Whitney, who inherited from her husband a thoroughbred breeding operation that dates back to the 19th century, owns Mine That Bird’s sire, Birdstone. His mating fee may surge to as much as $40,000 next year from $10,000 after his offspring’s Derby romp, estimates Baden “Buzz” Chace, a bloodstock agent who buys racehorses for clients. That would drive Birdstone’s value up to about $12 million from $3 million, Chace said.
“The Whitneys have got themselves a little prize on their hands,” Nick Zito, who trained Birdstone, said in a telephone interview yesterday from Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville. Zito estimates Birdstone’s stud fee could double to $20,000 for the 2010 breeding season. “You have to keep it at a level where it’s still attractive to everyone,” he said.
Saratogian May 4, 2009 “Birdstone is one proud papa”
The son of Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone was himself bred to win classic events, and he also captured the Travers Stakes following his Belmont upset.
Birdstone’s grandmother, Hush Dear, won the Long Island Handicap at 1½ miles; her grandmother Honey Dear was a daughter of Belmont Stakes winner and Whitney Stable campaigner Counterpoint.
So when Birdstone came on the track to tackle Smarty Jones after that rival’s victories in the Derby and Preakness, he could not wait to run 1½ miles in the Belmont Stakes.
Was that at work for Mine That Bird late Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs? Who knows, but on the day when 3-year-olds are first asked to run 1¼ miles, it was Mine That Bird who just loved the challenge, leaving a field of struggling horses in his sloppy wake.
What a marvelous reward for Marylou and her husband John Hendrickson.
Now THAT is funny!
I was lucky enough to see Mary Lou Whitney on Friday at the Oaks, as we were walking through the stands someone said “Hold up please, Mrs. Whitney is coming through.” Oh my, a tiny thing dressed in bright yellow, it was so cool!
