Acadiana native Calvin Boreil and the gelding he rode to victory at the Kentucky Derby are headed to the Preakness May 16.
The trainer of Mine That Bird, which won the Derby at 50-1 odds, confirmed yesterday to various media outlets that his horse will run in the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Mine That Bird won the Derby by 6 3/4 lengths over Pioneer of the Nile — the largest margin of victory since Assault in 1946.
On Sunday, a day after the upset, trainer Bennie Woolley Jr. said there was “no obligation” to go to the Preakness and added: “You’ve got to do what’s best for the horse and the horse has got to come first.” The uncertainty was also apparently related to the shortness of the Preakness (1 3/16-mile) at Pimlico racecourse and the fact that Mine That Bird performs better at longer distances.
The last Derby winner to skip the Preakness was an injured Grindstone in 1996; the last healthy Derby winner to miss it was Spend A Buck in 1985.
Read more about Borel in this Independent Weekly cover story, published May 23, 2007.