Calvin Borel to again ride Mine That Bird

By: SPORTS NETWORK

 

Saratoga Springs, NY (Sports Network) - Two-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel will again be in the saddle of Mine That Bird, the gelding he guided to victory in this year's Run for the Roses.

Trainer Chip Woolley made the announcement on Monday.

Woolley said that Borel, who won the 2007 Kentucky Derby on Street Sense, has regained the mount on Mine That Bird for the $350,000 Goodwood Stakes versus older horses at Santa Anita Park on Saturday, October 10. Borel will also ride the gelding in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita four weeks later.

This will be the third go-around for Borel with the three-year-old owned by Mark Allen and Dr, Leonard Blach. After winning the Kentucky Derby, Borel chose to ride the filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes, which she won. The Louisiana-native came back to ride Mine That Bird to a third-place result in the Belmont Stakes behind Summer Bird.

Borel lost the mount when he could not commit to ride Mine That Bird in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby on August 1. The jockey was aboard Warrior's Reward that day at Saratoga in the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes and finished second.

Mike Smith, who rode Mine That Bird in the Preakness, came back for the West Virginia Derby and was third there. Smith was scheduled to ride in the Travers Stakes, however the gelding was kept out of the Mid-Summer Derby after undergoing throat surgery earlier this month for an entrapped epiglottis.

Voted the 2008 Canadian champion two-year-old, Mine That Bird has earned $1,892,200 with one win in six starts in 2009.

Mine That Bird is scheduled to lead the post parade for the $2 million All America Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico on Labor Day.