The Derby was quite a shocker to some. Mine That Bird (gelding) won quite convincingly and nothing seemed to bother him. When they put the garland of roses around him he didn't make a move. He walked away with it dragging on the ground and it didn't phase him. This morning he was surrounded by camera's, lights and plenty of reporters while he was grazing, and it didn't bother him in the least. This gelding was champion 2 yr. old in Canada last year and was sold to his present owners for $400,000 after his 2 yr. old campaign but before the Breeders Cup. He was originally purchased for $9500 at the OCTOBER Fasig-Tipton Yearling Sale. (They canceled this sale as they said it wasn't a good sale, but with so many complaints from common people, they brought it back.) BIG BROWN was also purchased out of this sale the year before.

His share of the purse  yesterday was $1,417,200.

A couple of other things that came out of the Derby was the pick six carry over for Wednesday. It is over $781,000 and the card for Wednesday has a lot of short fields. The two dollar super high 5 carry over is $251,000 and the race is a $5000 claimer with a ten horse field.

Our Derby Handicapping contest got a light response,but no one person managed to pick the winner or the last horse, Flying Private. We were a little disappointed in the skills of all you handicappers. However, Terry Ward did pick Pioneer of the Nile to finish second. Terry turned in his entry before the draw! Congrats to Terry, he wins May's Day Rate for one of his horses in training.