LOUISVILLE, Ky. — LOUISVILLE, Ky. -Mine That Bird trainer Chip Woolley and co-owners Mark Allen and Leonard Blach have been so stunned by the horse's victory in the Kentucky Derby that they'll need a few days to consider whether to run him in the Preakness.
Woolley told reporters Sunday that it's no sure thing that Mine That Bird will be headed to Baltimore. He, Allen and Blach will have to talk it over, see how the horse recovers from his historic upset Saturday at Churchill Downs and hopefully make a decision by midweek.
"The horse [has] come back super so far, but we'll decide [about the Preakness] after we have a little discussion," Woolley said. "The Preakness really wasn't on our radar. ... There's no obligation. You got to do what's best for the horse. The horse has got to come first, so we'll see what happens."
The last horse to win the Derby and skip the second jewel at Pimlico Race Course was Grindstone in 1996, but those were different circumstances. Grindstone was injured between the two races and retired. In 1985, Spend a Buck decided to instead compete in the Jersey Derby. The Kentucky Derby winner has also won the Preakness seven times in the past 12 runnings.
Does Mine That Bird even have the speed to compete in the Preakness, at 1 3/16 miles the shortest of the three Triple Crown races?
"I don't know," Woolley said. "The Preakness tends to be a little more speed-biased, and I don't know if that's going to fit our horse all that well."
Meanwhile, the trainer is enjoying the momentous victory.
"It's actually a little bit hard to get your mind around," Woolley said.
"It's hard to believe you came in here and won this thing."
How much sleep did Woolley get after celebrating?
"Very little," he said. "We had a lot of fun last night."
Allen, in fact, acknowledged that he hadn't even been to bed yet when speaking with reporters at 7 a.m. outside Mine That Bird's barn at Churchill Downs.
Now the sleep-deprived New Mexico cowboys face a difficult decision: Do they give the late-charging horse another outside shot at stunning the field or hold him off and prepare for the Belmont Stakes? After all, his sire, Birdstone, won the 1 1/2 -mile Belmont in 2004, running down Smarty Jones on the backstretch. This is a horse bred for distance.
Other trainers have difficult decisions, too.
