07/30/09

WEIGHTS AND PACE COULD MAKE THE RACE

By Bill Mooney

A heavy fog was lifting off the adjacent Ohio River as Mine That Bird went out for his regular morning gallop at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort on Thursday. There was, indeed, something majestic about the scene, as this year’s Kentucky Derby winner emerged from the mist, continuing his preparations for Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby.

“Looking real good,” was the assessment of Bernie L. “Chip” Woolley Jr., Mine That Bird’s trainer. But Woolley did have a few other things on his mind. Under the allowance conditions of the race, Mine That Bird will be carrying 122 pounds. That’s from nine to 11 pounds more than any of his five opponents will carry.

“At 1 1/8 miles, it’s a huge discrepancy,” Woolley said. “That’s the way it is, and I’ll live with it. I have no problems with fillies (carrying) lighter than colts in races like this. That’s the way it was with Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.

“Colts? I don’t mind giving them three or four pounds,” said Woolley. “And I know that if you’re the Kentucky Derby winner, all the weights going to be put on you. But this Saturday we’re going to be giving 11 pounds to a Grade 3 winner (Big Drama). That’s a lot.”  
High-weighted favorites have sometimes been successful in the West Virginia Derby, and sometimes not. In 1999, Stellar Brush toted 122 pounds to a nine-length score. And Wiseman’s Ferry registered a front-running, photo-finish victory under a 122-pound impost in 2002.

On the other hand, Florida Derby winner Hal’s Hope conceded seven pounds to Mass Market when the latter beat him by four lengths in the 2000 edition of the West Virginia Derby.

This year’s six-horse field will be the smallest for a West Virginia Derby since 1968, when Chargertown led wire-to-wire in a group of five. Mine That Bird, who has adapted a running style of closing from far behind, encountered some traffic problems when he finished second in a crowded field of 13 at the Preakness. Will a trip at Mountaineer that’s guaranteed to be much less congested be to Mine That Bird’s advantage?   

“It will relieve traffic trouble,” Woolley said. “But the flip side of that same coin is that (a short field) will eliminate some of the pace. I would liked to have had some additional horses to give us some honest early fractions.

“Looking at the form of the other horses, they should be pretty scattered out on Saturday,” said Woolley. “We won’t be forced into a wide trip. But we are going to need a solid pace in front of us. It’s a 50-50 thing; it can work for you or against you.”      

 
Weight is not a concern for trainer John A. Ross, whose colt, Awesome Rhythm, will carry 113 pounds on Saturday. And, unlike Mine That Bird and Big Drama, there is a nine-furlong stakes victory on Awesome Rhythm’s resume.

And the pace on Saturday? “Pace is always a factor in a graded race,” said Ross. “Awesome Rhythm tends to stay within six lengths of the front-runners during the early going. He’s more of a stalking horse. We’re hoping to see some early speed in the race, too.
“Our plan is just to stay in the middle of things,” Ross said. “We’ll save enough for the wire and hope we get there. I’ve got a lot of respect for Mind That Bird. I watched him run in Canada. Both Awesome Again and Mine That Bird began their careers on the same day (July 20, 2008, at Woodbine), and we beat him that day.

“Mine That Bird’s gone on to be much more,” said Ross. “But it’s kind of funny how we started together and here we are, together again. This is a good spot for us.”

Is there the option of having Mine That Bird run closer to the early pace on Saturday? “We can’t do that,” said Woolley. “If you try to change this horse’s running style, he’ll run a race like he did at Sunland Park (when Mine That Bird finished a fading forth in his only other 1 1/8-mile try).

“With a horse like ours, you don’t mess with what works,” Woolley said. “Mine That Bird makes one move. If we try to keep him closer early, we’ll come up empty where the money’s at. And we’re not using the West Virginia Derby as a prep. We came here to win.”