It wouldn't have been misunderstood for long, what with you setting the record straight for us and all.

Watching Calvin's interview again and thinking about what he meant reveals a few possible reasons for his gelding's success.

1) The track took the heart out of almost all of them over 10F's except his horse whom he saved til the last quarter as he was so far back after the initial half he was out of the picture but his horse hadn't started the race yet. Classic tortise and hare stuff....

2) The time, though slow, is irrelevant as this Derby was won by racing strategy not speed but stamina over a last 1/4 while MTB must have run ridiculous time for the 1/4, 1/2 and 6f's splits showing how occasionally over rated ES is on tiring tracks and poly quick sand.

3) "Fatigue makes cowards of us all" doesn't just apply to football player's

4) Calvin was right on the money when he said his was the only one running at he end......an obvious strategy the "slow minded" southern connections used to the detriment of faster smarter more expensive colts in the race.

"Intelligence is taking the same information available to everyone else and doing something different with it than most to achieve an outcome nobody else could attain"......

I was fortunate enough to watch this race from the winners circle... I was dry until immediately after the race.

Birdstone is 23% with mud starters. My sister was looking for a longshot, when she mentioned MTB I told her he should be a million to one. I should have kept my mouth shut.

I think the Giacomo syndrome is still hanging around. And next year will be no different after this result.

Photo of Mine That Bird on the turn:

http://sports.yahoo.com/rah/gallery;...th_kentuck%3A1

i could not agree more. well said.

:p i can't wait to hear what john white has to say?

I agree. He was 99-1 at William Hill in the U.K. But lets not forget the makeup of the crowd on Derby Day; many of whom cannot read a DRF or track program past performance. Let's not forget Rick's Natural Star was only 50-1 in the BC Turf a few years ago and actually had more win money than a Grade 1 winning Marlin.

Funny you mention BC, 4/6 on synthetics, can anyone say HELLO SANTA ANITA.

:rolleyes:

oh boy!

race shape, and set up too fast/too forward....

combined with a lone horse running a separate optimal race and winning a gamble on a fortunate rail trip.

and the much-the-best horse running a no-show while supposedly injured

and the 3 other possibly good 10 furlong horses (dunkirk,desert party,chocolate candy) turned out to be mediocre or worse

Somebody paid them off?

I hope they paid them off AND bet Mine That Bird...

it was a handicappers nightmare and the type of race that some fan hits...

anyone who knew anything about wagering would play against pioneer in most tickets other than the coverage tickets.

I had Calvin's horse and Join in the Dance (the speed) grouped 3rd or 4th in a superfecta each, but that is the highest I could envision him running to.


One of the hardest things about trying to make money at the horses, is that if you want to safely build your bankroll, you can't bet a lot more on the fun races then on any other good valued race. That can be damn near impossible when you handicap a race for so long, and have been so accurate for the last two years, and have such a strong opinion. :wf

We won't mention any names :D

WTF are you talking about

he was the trainer at one point in the geldings career.

I guess I was asking WTF you were talking about, implying that I Want Revenge was scratched for a reason other than an injury.