I've told this tale before, but I so love this story, and as much as it's possible to be in love with a horse, I love Mine That Bird.
Mine That Bird went into the 2009 Kentucky Derby a 50 to 1 longshot. His trainer was surprised to find out the horse had qualified, and loaded him up in a horse trailer and drove his pickup truck from New Mexico to get him there. Sports Illustrated didn't even bother to find out anything about him for its feature article on the race. He *did* get a mention in New York Newsday however, whose writer said he "should just stay in the barn"
And when the race started Mine That Bird lived up to expectations. Here's the You Tube Video of the race, and you'll see Mine That Bird so far back at one point that the announcer says another horse is in last place, because he can't even see Mine That Bird.
But...watch the rest of the video, and keep an eye on the inside rail as they come around the final turn.
Some days, when I was unemployed and looking increasingly unemployable, as life started to look increasingly bleak, I'd watch that video just to lighten up a little because I desperately didn't want to go through a whole day with nothing good in it. No matter how bad the suckfest got. That horse never failed to being a little smile to my face.
Someday I want to meet Mine that Bird, give him a big hug around his horse neck and get his hoofprint autograph.
2 comments:
Sweetttt
I grew up around horses and my grandmother used to work at a horse track... and she always told me "baby, bet the favorites... but always put 2 bucks on the nose of the longshot, because you would be surprised how the underdog wins more than you think"
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