a lot more on Mine That Bird

I blogged on this earlier, but SI's story by Tim Layden adds more details...

A hopeless outsider named Mine That Bird took the 135th Derby at odds of 50-1, the second-longest shot to win in the history of the race.

He won because 25 years ago one cowboy saved another from getting his ass whipped in a bar fight and they became friends.

He won because a workaday Canadian horseman bought him at a yearling sale for half the cost of a Mini Cooper, paid a veterinarian to excise his testicles and won four races before selling him for the price of a nice yacht.

He won because a trainer who had a broken right leg and a 1-for-32 record in starts at his home track in New Mexico this season loaded him into a horse van and drove him 1,466 miles left-footed to race the blue bloods in their backyard.

Most of all, he won because a sweet, 42-year-old Cajun jockey, who misses his deceased mom and dad so much it makes him weep, rode Mine That Bird with breathtaking fearlessness....

It was the end of a journey that started on Oct. 22, 2007, 72 miles away in Lexington. Mine That Bird, a son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, was among 566 yearlings sold at auction, bought by Canadian owner-trainer Dave Cotey for $9,500....between August and October 2008 the horse won four races....

[Chip Woolley] suggested that Allen and Blach buy Mine That Bird. The price was $400,000, and the partners each paid half. They rushed him into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last October, and he finished last in a 12-horse field....On March 29 he was fourth in the $800,000 Sunland Derby, but had accumulated enough graded earnings -- if not street cred -- to merit Derby consideration....

They needed an experienced jockey. Borel had based his 3-year-old plans around a horse named Beethoven, but he went out with an injury in late March....

In the Derby, the smallish Mine That Bird was squeezed coming out of the gate. "Once that happened, I just put him on a loose rein and dropped back and relaxed," said Borel. He was last at the quarter mile. Last at the half. Last at three quarters [nearly 30 lengths behind]...What took place next was stunning. Borel passed 18 horses in 21 explosive seconds....

Said Borel, "They always drift out when they're tired. My brother [Cecil, a trainer] always told me, inside is the shortest way around. It's not as bad as it looks. I've been thrown over the rail, but if you're afraid, you're in the wrong game." Once free, Mine That Bird extended his lead with every stride, winning by 6 3/4 lengths, the largest margin since Triple Crown winner Assault in 1946....