Mine That Bird ships to Mountaineer

A trailer carrying Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine's MINE THAT

BIRD (Birdstone) departed Churchill Downs Friday for an approximately seven-hour

ride to Mountaineer Racetrack Casino and Resort. The Kentucky

Derby (G1) winner will get acclimated to the track in advance of the $750,000

West Virginia Derby (G2) on August 1.

Runner-up in the Preakness (G1), Mine That Bird will make his start since a

third in the Belmont S. (G1) on June 6. The Chip Woolley-trained gelding has

established himself as the leading contender for champion three-year-old male

honors, and he's been based at Churchill Downs since arriving a few days before

his 50-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby. Woolley was at the wheel of the pick-up

truck connected to Mine That Bird's trailer when the team pulled away from Barn

42 around 7:10 a.m. (EDT) on Friday.

"We're ready to go," Woolley said. "You get to looking forward to going to

run again and it gets kind of drab after you've been a while not running. I'm

kind of excited about going and being to a new place we hadn't been. So I think

it'll be a lot of fun. As much as I hate leaving Louisville and Churchill, it's

going to be fun to move on down the road."

Mine That Bird had an active morning before he stepped onto Woolley's van. He

spent about 20 minutes in a hydrotherapy treatment that has been part of his

local routine over the past several weeks, then the Derby winner walked under

the shedrow until just before it was time to leave. Several well-wishers dropped

by bid farewell to Woolley and Mine That Bird, and a few offered a peppermint as

a farewell gift to the Derby winner.

"Even from day one, before we won the Derby, the people here were great,"

Woolley explained. "Everybody here has just treated us so well and made every

door open to us. So leaving is kind of a hard thing. You like staying here --

I'd like to stay here. But you've got to move to where the races are at. But

we've really enjoyed it and it'll be an experience a man will never forget."

The run in the West Virginia Derby is the first step on a summer-fall

campaign for Mine That Bird that is also expected to include the $1 million

Travers (G1) at Saratoga on August 29. His main goal this year is the $5 million

Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on November 7 over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at

Oak Tree at Santa Anita, and Mine That Bird will travel west to begin

preparations following the Travers.

Woolley liked what his saw from Mine That Bird on Friday as the son of

Birdstone bucked and played as he walked under the shedrow minutes before his

departure.

"He's doing great," Woolley said. "He's really climbing that peak that we're

looking for and really doing good. So I'm glad I trained him here and the horse

stayed healthy and sound over this racetrack, so we're ready to roll on, I

guess."

Mine That Bird is scheduled to work on Monday at Mountaineer, a move that

Woolley said would be a "soft half-mile or five-eighths." He will embark on the

second-half of his 2009 campaign with an 11-5-2-1 record and earnings of

$2,121,581.