Surgery scheduled for Mine That Bird

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/17/2009 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will undergo throat surgery on Tuesday for an entrapped epiglottis. The three- year-old gelding is still expected to start in the $1 million Travers Stakes on Saturday, August 29.

"After Mine That Bird's work this morning (Monday), we scoped him, and he's got an entrapment of the epiglottis," said trainer Chip Woolley. "It's enough that we're going to take him to the city (Elmont, NY) tonight and do surgery on him in the morning.

"The doctors think, there's no guarantees, but the doctors think he'll be good for Travers; he'll be here and ready to run in the Travers. But, it will be somewhat day-to-day. We will not run him if he's not 100 percent, so we're gonna see how things go with the deal tomorrow."

Woolley said veterinarian Dr. James Hunt discovered the problem during a routine endoscopic examination. The condition involves the thin membrane lying below the epiglottis (the fleshy tissue that covers the windpipe when a horse swallows) moves up and covers the epiglottis.

"Every time, two weeks out, we always scope him just to make sure we don't have any problems," said Woolley. "It's just standard procedure with me, that's how I've done it in every race. At his two week-out work, we scope him. We had no clue there was any problem. He came off the race track bucking and playing this morning. I never gave a second thought to it. He finishes up in eleven and three the last eighth of a mile. I mean, I would have never dreamed there's a problem."

Mine That Bird worked five furlongs in 1:03.83 on Saratoga's main track Monday morning with Jamie Theriot riding. The three-year-old is scheduled to have his final tuneup for the one and one-quarter mile Travers next Tuesday.

"I can miss a couple days of training without any worry about the work," Woolley noted. "I mean he can still work on Tuesday if he misses a day or two of training, that's not going to make or break him. But he does need the work and like I said, if he's not ready, he won't run."

The gelding has been stabled at Saratoga since finishing third in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby on August 1 to Soul Warrior. Among those he is expected to meet in the Travers are Belmont Stakes champ Summer Bird, Peter Pan winner Charitable Man and Jim Dandy winner Kensei. Leading filly Rachel Alexandra is nominated to the Travers along with four other stakes.

Owned by Dr. Leonard Bloch and Mark Allen, Mine That Bird pulled off a 50-1 shocker in the Kentucky Derby followed by a narrow second-place finish in the Preakness to Rachel Alexandra and was third to Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes.

Voted last year's Canadian two-year-old champion, Mine That Bird has earned $1,892,200 with one win in six starts in 2009.

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