Jockey Calvin Borel was back on board Mine That Bird on the morning of Aug. 31 as the winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) worked a half mile in :51.16 over the main track at Saratoga Race Course.
Trainer Chip Woolley sent the Birdstone gelding to the track for a breeze before he ships Sept. 1 to the Woolley's base in New Mexico.
"(It was) very good. He looked super," the trainer said. "We started him off pretty slow. The track was good but still heavy (from recent rain), but he finished real big down the lane."
While Woolley was pleased with the move, he was even more excited about having Borel back not only for the workout, but also for Mine That Bird's next two scheduled outings – the Oct. 10 Goodwood Stakes (gr. I) and the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I).
"It worked well for us before," Woolley said of the Borel-Mine That Bird team.
After a rail-skimming ride aboard Mine That Bird at 50-1 odds in the Derby, Borel honored a commitment to ride super filly Rachel Alexandra in her victory in the BlackBerry Preakness (gr. I), in which Mine That Bird finished second under Mike Smith. In the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), Borel and Mine That Bird finished third, with Summer Bird winning the third leg of the Triple Crown.
In the Aug. 2 West Virginia Derby (gr. II), Smith and Mine That Bird were third as Borel road Warrior's Reward to a second in the Jim Dandy (gr. II).
Mine That Bird was scheduled to run in the Aug. 29 Shadwell Travers Stakes (gr. I), but missed the race after undergoing minor throat surgery 11 days prior to the race.
Now he and trainer Woolley will be returning home for the first time since they got on the road for Kentucky in the spring.
"It will be nice to get home and see my friends," said Woolley, who has been walking on crutches (due to a broken leg) during his journey through Kentucky and New York.