Sunday, August 23, 2009

Chip Woolley, Jr., In Detail

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – August 24, 2009) Saratoga has a reputation for being the place where stars go to race. But in the case of Bennie “Chip” Woolley, Jr., it may be the place where stars are made.

Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner that Woolley trains, is on the grounds in the stakes barn across the street from the paddock. He’s scheduled to run in the Travers. Mine That Bird’s a horse that’s won only once in the last seven months, but a bona fide star nonetheless.

Woolley, of course, became a national figure when he limped into the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs after the running of the tenth race on the first Saturday in May. Now in Saratoga, the New Mexico-based trainer is entering a whole new stratosphere.

On Wednesday of this past week, Woolley appeared at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for what is called a “Guests in the Gallery” interview. He had just returned the night before from escorting Mine That Bird to Long Island for a minor surgery.

On Monday, the Kentucky Derby winner worked poorly, he was scoped and Woolley’s vet discovered that the horse wasn’t breathing properly. By week’s end, the horse was pronounced fit and tomorrow he’ll have his last serious workout. In the meantime, here are notes from Woolley’s “Guests in the Gallery” appearance.

REGARDING HIS EMOTIONS. Woolley said, “It took four to five days for me to get comfortable with the idea that Mine That Bird won. I didn’t enjoy the first week.” Going into the race, Woolley believed that Mine That Bird would give a good account of himself. The horse was dead fit, behaving properly and liking the surface at Churchill Downs. All he truly wanted was to get fifth, so when the horse won he didn’t know what to do or how to act and he was overwhelmed by the enormity of his accomplishment.

When he saw Mine That Bird get bumped at the start, Woolley thought that the race was lost. He instructed Borel to hold Mine That Bird back and make one run, but he wasn’t prepared to see Mine That Bird 20 lengths behind the pack. As the field approached the final turn, Woolley regained confidence and thought that a fifth-place finish was possible. When Mine That Bird went outside a tiring horse in the stretch and then squeezed through a slim hole on the rail, he realized more was likely. Woolley never saw the last 100 yards. His first thought after the race was what to do next.

ON MEETING MINE THAT BIRD. Woolley traveled to Toronto to inspect Mine That Bird on behalf of his owners to check him out before the ink was dry on the $400,000 check that they wrote for him. He took one look and called back home to say “Don’t buy this horse, he’s crooked upfront.” But he stayed a few days, watched the horse work and noticed that he glided over the course effortlessly and changed his mind.

Now Woolley thinks he’s the perfect horse to train. Mine That Bird thrives on exercise. He pouts when he can’t get to the track for a gallop. The gelding gained weight during his Triple Crown campaign. He’s an expert traveler. In fact, it seems that he likes the van better than flying freight in a plane.

THE DERBY WINNER’S RUNNING STYLE. Woolley said that the races that Mine That Bird won in Canada en route to his Sovereign Award were against lesser horses than those he would be facing in the Classics. He noted that the gelding was a small horse, only 15.3 hands, but his muscles weren’t massed like a sprinter’s. Mine That Bird has smooth, long, slabbed muscles, not tightly bunched, that indicated to Woolley he could get a distance. His breeding suggested that also. He deduced that Mine That Bird would never beat Classic runners by trying to outrun them.

Once in Woolley’s barn, the conversion from pace-prodder to closer began. The trainer specifically chose Calvin Borel to ride because he knew that the rider had patience. He said Chantal Sutherland, who rode Mine That Bird in Canada and in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, was a good rider, but not the world-class rider he needed. Woolley blamed the trip Mine That Bird got in the Belmont and the West Virginia Derby for causing his defeats in those races. He called the Preakness, Mine That Bird’s best race this year, citing his Beyer figure – a tick over his Beyer in Louisville – as proof of it. Woolley said that he foresaw the day when Borel would be re-engaged to ride the Kentucky Derby winner.

WHAT THE FUTURE WILL BRING. Once the Travers has been run, Woolley will take Mine That Bird back to New Mexico. The trainer hasn’t been home since he left for the Derby. He believes Mine That Bird can be trained properly there, where he tends for 25 horses already with the help of capable assistants. The Goodwood Stakes at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita is next on the Derby winner’s agenda.

Woolley likes the Goodwood because of the spacing it provides for the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Although he said, “This horse doesn’t need a race over that surface. He’s won on the poly in Canada and ran on it at Santa Anita,” the coincidence that the two races for Mine That Bird will be on the same racetrack is a positive. Once the crowd dispersed, Woolley expanded on what comes next. In public, he said they’ll determine a schedule for next year after the breeders’ Cup. In private, he dreams of winning the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March, after a prep race in early February. Need to know more? There’s a book and a movie in the works.

WOOLLEY – A CLASSIC GENTLEMAN. The fact that Woolley is still on crutches after a February 22 motorcycle accident comes up often when racing fans discuss the man. For the record, the trainer’s leg was broken in so many places that he must undergo further surgery. Woolley’s waiting until after the Breeders’ Cup to be with his horse – Mine That Bird gave him the chance of a lifetime and he doesn’t want to miss a minute of it and there will be several weeks of hospital recuperation following the procedure. Say a prayer that this ordeal doesn’t end in amputation.

The trainer entertains thoughts of bringing a small string of horses back East. He would hate losing Mine That Bird to another trainer but knows that is part of the game. Kane acknowledged to the audience that Woolley is without doubt a cooperative spokesman for the sport. After vanning Mine That Bird from Churchill Downs to Pimlico for the Preakness, the first words out of his mouth to the officials were, “What do you want me to do for you now.” Once her learned Mine That Bird would be having surgery for an entrapped epiglottis, he notified NYRA what was happening. “The public will be betting $400,000 to $600,000 on this horse, they deserve to know everything,” he said.

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