Horse Racing

Kentucky Derby champ Mine That Bird will remain in the care of trainer Chip Woolley for the foreseeable future after an offer to purchase the three-year-old has been rejected by his owners.

Woolley stated Friday that Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach of Buena Suerte Equine declined the purchase offer for Mine That Bird.

Mine That Bird went to the Churchill Downs oval Friday morning with regular exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.

Woolley plans to keep the gelding at Churchill Downs four more weeks before shipping to Mountaineer Park for the West Virginia Derby on Saturday, August 1.

"I'd like to get him up there (Mountaineer Park) early enough to have two breezes over the track," Woolley said. "We may leave around (July) 16th or 17th to give him time to gallop once there before he works." "I have had limited experience running horses at night, but if I had one running, I'd like them to see the lights. I took a horse to Remington Park one time for trials and he never had seen lights. When he went to the gate, he was just looking up and when they sprang the latch he was not ready. The whole way down the lane he had his head up and never straightened it out to look ahead." Mine That Bird won the Run for the Roses as a 50-1 longshot. Two weeks later he fell a length short of winning the Preakness Stakes when the filly Rachel Alexandra led wire-to-wire.

In the Belmont Stakes the gelding made a valiant effort only to finish third to his half-brother Summer Bird.