VC2
07-27-2009, 10:24 AM
This is a great story about the little horse that could and his trainer. Not often that fans are allowed to pet and stroke a derby winner. The whole article is interesting
Oblivious to the steady rain that soaked Churchill Downs Wednesday morning, 11-year-old Rion Graves happily assumed his daily perch, climbing up a short ladder to pat Mine That Bird while the Kentucky Derby winner received a 20-minute hydrotherapy treatment.
Rion scratched the gelding's forehead, stroked his neck and fed him peppermints.
If he's the most loyal of Mine That Bird's newfound pals, he's certainly not the only one who has been allowed to literally get up close and personal with the Derby winner.
Indeed, in addition to his $103.20 payoff in that race, Mine That Bird's legacy will include the many hundreds of Louisvillians and race fans who have been given extremely rare access to a Derby winner.
"We get 20 people a day who come by to see him, plus all the tours that go by," said trainer Chip Woolley. "We try to make him as available as possible. ... Racing so often is inaccessible to the patrons and the people who love racing. It's kind of nice to be able to give them a little bit of the Derby thing."
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090722/SPORTS08/90723001
Also another article said that the owners are bringing the horse back to new mexico on september 7 to lead the post parade as a way to thank NM racing fans for their support, that they deserve to see the derby winner http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iY3D65Sd0Dpv_e0FFYrUwDBdJTAQD99I9RFG1
It was an amazing story in the first place, a trainer who had won nothing this year and was pretty well unknown, who vanned him across the country, coming from last place to win the derby and then take 2nd and 3rd in the next two legs of the triple crown proving he was not a fluke.
Now the trainer and owners are letting him be an asset for racing, fans get to know him, and he is an ambassador for the sport in a hands on way that few if any ever allowed their winners to be while racing.
Oblivious to the steady rain that soaked Churchill Downs Wednesday morning, 11-year-old Rion Graves happily assumed his daily perch, climbing up a short ladder to pat Mine That Bird while the Kentucky Derby winner received a 20-minute hydrotherapy treatment.
Rion scratched the gelding's forehead, stroked his neck and fed him peppermints.
If he's the most loyal of Mine That Bird's newfound pals, he's certainly not the only one who has been allowed to literally get up close and personal with the Derby winner.
Indeed, in addition to his $103.20 payoff in that race, Mine That Bird's legacy will include the many hundreds of Louisvillians and race fans who have been given extremely rare access to a Derby winner.
"We get 20 people a day who come by to see him, plus all the tours that go by," said trainer Chip Woolley. "We try to make him as available as possible. ... Racing so often is inaccessible to the patrons and the people who love racing. It's kind of nice to be able to give them a little bit of the Derby thing."
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090722/SPORTS08/90723001
Also another article said that the owners are bringing the horse back to new mexico on september 7 to lead the post parade as a way to thank NM racing fans for their support, that they deserve to see the derby winner http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iY3D65Sd0Dpv_e0FFYrUwDBdJTAQD99I9RFG1
It was an amazing story in the first place, a trainer who had won nothing this year and was pretty well unknown, who vanned him across the country, coming from last place to win the derby and then take 2nd and 3rd in the next two legs of the triple crown proving he was not a fluke.
Now the trainer and owners are letting him be an asset for racing, fans get to know him, and he is an ambassador for the sport in a hands on way that few if any ever allowed their winners to be while racing.