Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra Won't Renew
Kentucky Derby and Preakness Winners Match Up Off, Borel Back On
Jun 2, 2009
Before the gates bang open for this season's Belmont Stakes, the what-if mindset for lack of a Triple Crown winner in 2009 is already buzzing. What if the filly hadn't run in the Preakness Stakes and held off Kentucky Derby champion Mine That Bird, who closed again like a locomotive to finish second?
Mine That Bird would have won his second classic. Mine That Bird, Birdstone's little son, would be standing in the shadow of the great Triple Crown winners, poised to earn his own crown. Mine That Bird would be on everyone's mind as a seeker of the twelfth Triple Crown title in history.
Rachel Alexandra Won't Menace Mine That Bird
There is no issue with the Belmont Stakes distance for Mine That Bird. His daddy also closed like a freight train. In the long classic of 2004, Birdstone chased down a sure thing for a crown, Smarty Jones, beating the Elusive Quality son by a length after Smarty had shot to a lead of several lengths around the final turn.
"...we feel Rachel deserves a well-earned vacation," Rachel Alexandra's majority owner, Jess Jackson, recently told interviewers. Jackson and his partner, Harold T. McCormick, purchased the talented filly May 7 after her blitz to victory in the Kentucky Oaks May 1.
Rachel reigns as just the third filly in history to win the Preakness Stakes.
Jess Jackson Is Thoroughbred Risk-Taker
Jackson went on to say that he was "elated" by Rachel's charismatic victories in the Oaks and the Preakness that showered attention on Thoroughbred racing. The filly's well-being would always be his first consideration, Jackson indicated.
Jackson is well known as a risk-taker in the Thoroughbred industry, but also as a horses-first kind of owner. He also owns two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, whose first title he put on the line in the Dubai World Cup in March of 2008.
Curlin responded as Jackson had hoped by winning in Dubai. The chestnut millionaire later became the all-time career earnings leader and garnered a second HOY championship.
Calvin Borel Gets Back On Mine That Bird
There won't be a Thoroughbred Triple Crown winner this season. There could be, however, a very unique winning combination.
No Triple Crown possible? Hold on. Calvin Borel, who rode Mine That Bird at Churchill and his regular filly, Rachel Alexandra, in the Preakness to the winner's circle in the first two Triple Crown jewels, will be back on board Mine That Bird in the Belmont.
A win in the Belmont Stakes will make Borel the only jockey ever to score in all three classics mounted on two different horses.
Mine That Bird's pedigreed closing ability makes him a very dangerous individual at the 1-1/2 miles distance of the Belmont. If he gets it, he will have won just two of the Triple Crown classics, having lost the middle jewel to a filly's length, but his rider will grab a lone spot in history.
