No Travers for Mine That Bird

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/26/2009 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will not start in Saturday's 140th Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. The gelding's owners and trainer announced Wednesday morning that the three-year- old will skip the $1 million race to give him more time to recover from recent throat surgery.

"We've decided to err on the side of caution and pass this race up and aim down the road to the Breeders' Cup," trainer Chip Woolley said. "There's one little spot underneath the epiglottis pushing up just a tiny bit and after studying and looking at it, we're going to hold off and make sure the horse is okay and not take any chances with the rest of his career.

"It's probably not a problem, but we don't feel comfortable taking a chance. It probably would have no bearing on the race, but we don't want to do anything that might jeopardize his future."

Mine That Bird had throat surgery last Tuesday for an entrapped epiglottis. Dr. Patricia Hogan performed the surgery at the Ruffian Equine Medical Center located across the street from Belmont Park. The Derby champ had his first workout after the procedure yesterday.

Owned by Dr. Leonard Blach and Mark Allen, Mine That Bird is scheduled to lead the post parade for the $2 million All America Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico on Labor Day and will not run in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park that day.

"It was a hard decision," said Dr. Blach. "(The endoscopic examination Wednesday) showed a small spot on the left lateral quarter of the epiglottis. It's healed up, it's not raw, there's no ulcer on there at all it's just kind of an enlargement on the left side. Essentially it's going to be normal and it's probably going to be there for a while. Having surgery just eight days ago, we probably don't want to take a risk."

Mine That Bird was a 50-1 longshot when he won the Kentucky Derby. Two weeks later he was second in the Preakness Stakes to the filly Rachel Alexandra and was third to Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes.

Voted the 2008 Canadian champion two-year-old, he has earned $1,892,200 with one win in six starts in 2009.

With the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic this year's ultimate goal, Mine That Bird's next start is yet to be decided. Woolley and the owners said they would consider the $500,000 Goodwood Stakes for older horses at Santa Anita on Saturday, October 10.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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