Showing posts with label woolley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woolley. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
It was his first (Derby) rodeo...Chuck Woolley's waistline decor
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the belt buckle, originally uploaded by wendyu.
The classic Kentucky horseman's belt is a tasteful strip of saddle leather adorned with a halter name plate bearing the person's name.
But not this year. Wendy caught up with Mine That Bird's trainer Chuck Woolley on the backside at Pimlico this morning, where the Kentucky Derby winner will run in the second leg of the Triple Crown this afternoon.
Woolley, like all of Mine That Bird's connections, is from New Mexico, and won the Kentucky Derby the first time he entered...with a horse he drove there in a trailer pulled by his own pickup. A big belt buckle is how you celebrate, back home in New Mexico. Looks good to me!
Drop whatever you are doing at 5 p.m. eastern time today and find a television that receives the NBC network. Mine That Bird lost his hot jockey, Calvin Borel, to an even hotter filly, Rachel Alexandra, and plenty of good Derby horses like Friesan Fire, Musket Man, Papa Clem and Pioneerof The Nile are back for the tight turns and shorter distance that will test them all.
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What's special about this photo is that it was taken minutes after the finish of the Kentucky Derby. My guess is that Mine That Bird's camp had not done a dress rehearsal of where to go and what to do if the horse won and would be headed to the winner's circle.
Charlie Figueroa has been Mine That Bird's groom and exercise rider throughout the Triple Crown, as well as Chip Woolley's legs while the trainer has been on crutches. Charlie normally works at the farm back in New Mexico, where he breaks and trains the young horses.
I've seen a hundred pictures of this man in the past couple of months and he's been smiling in most of them. But the smile on his face in this photo, when he's just grabbed his muddy horse out of the winner's circle to bring him back to the barn, is very special. You can almost see the lift in his walk. He's a happy man.
After all that racing has been through lately, the Triple Crown seemed to have an angel looking over it, even though Friesan Fire and Dunkirk are now out with fractures, I Want Revenge has fetlock ligament damage, and we're still waiting for Florida Derby winner Quality Road to get back to the races after recovering from his matching front and hind quarter cracks.
They've gone to the four winds: Pioneerof The Nile with his hot fit flames is back to California. Belmont winner Summer Bird is headed to Louisiana. Mine That Bird's team seems to understandably like it at Churchill Downs, where rumor has it that the Kentucky Derby Museum has asked Chip Woolley for his crutches when he's ready to walk on his own again.
The Triple Crown may be over, but in six weeks, the sun will be glowing through the fog in Saratoga at dawn, the way it always does and the way it always has. With luck, these three-year-old horses we've come to know and maybe even Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra will give the racing tribe some thrills at America's oldest track.
Charlie, his big smile, and his fast little horse would fit right in.
See you there!
Hoofcare Publishing will host a series of informal educational events in Saratoga during the race meet on Tuesday evenings. Watch this blog for more details of speakers and sponsors, or email Saratoga@hoofcare.com for more details about attending or sponsoring. The blog will come alive! Most events are held either at the Parting Pub's back room or at the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame.