Mine That Bird will take his chances in the Preakness Stakes in two weeks.
A spokesman confirmed the three-year-old gelding would compete in the second leg of the U.S. Triple Crown at Baltimore on May 16.
“I’ve never been to Baltimore, but it looks like I won’t be able to say that in a few days,” trainer Bennie Woolley Jr. said Monday.
Woolley said the horse will remain at Churchill Downs in Louisville at least until May 12 before shipping to Baltimore. He jogged a mile at Churchill on Monday morning and will have light jogs each of the next two days.
Woolley said there are no plans for the horse to have a full workout before the Preakness.
Kentucky-bred Mine That Bird, named Canada’s top two-year-old in 2008 when he raced at Woodbine in Toronto, was a huge upset winner in the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday afternoon.
The horse made an explosive run over the final two furlongs, racing down the rail to win after going off at 50-1 in the first leg of U.S. thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown.
It was the second-biggest upset in Derby history, behind 1913’s Donerail, and it sent the Churchill Downs crowd — especially those who had bet on the Kentucky-bred gelding — into a frenzy.
Mine That Bird was almost unbeatable as a two-year-old at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack, winning four times in five races. But when he went to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last fall, Mine That Bird was a disappointing 12th.
The Preakness is limited to 14 starting horses.
