Mine That Bird’s upset in the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands attracted the interest of editors at Sports Illustrated, who devoted the entire cover to it in the magazine’s May 6 edition.
The cover headline is “Miracle in the Mud,” along with a large “50-1”—the odds at which Mine That Bird was dispatched in a 19-horse field at Churchill Downs. A subhead suggests the victory has energized horse racing.
Mine That Bird is being pointed to the May 16 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) at Pimlico Race Course in Maryland.
Mine That Bird's appearance on the SI cover is the first for horse-racing since Smarty Jones won the 2004 Derby and was the May 10, 2004 cover boy.