2009 Belmont Summer Bird, Dunkirk and Mine that Bird

The youngsters were true to their breeding showing tenacity and stamina passed along to them by Papa Birdstone. While the Belmont didn’t produce a Triple Crown this year it might have done just as much for racing by highlighting an overlooked stud. Of course now that the secrets out Birdstone will be getting more respect and I predict his stud fees will be going up by a sizeable figure.

The most honest part of horse racing is the horse. Owners, trainers and jockeys are all guided by a human factor, ego followed close on by ignorance.

Last year it was Big Brown’s trainer making outrageous remarks about how great his charge was. This year Mine that Bird’s jockey Calvin Borel was the culprit.

An odd thing happened on the way to the finish line – redemption for Kent Desormeaux.

A couple of Cajuns Desormeaux and Borel riding competing horses from the same sire, Desormeaux came both mentally and physically prepared to win the Belmont, Borel didn’t. While Borel was enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame on TV’s Late Shows and seeing New York Desormeaux was studying his past performance record at Belmont, including a couple of losing efforts in the Belmont stakes. He was also working to secure mounts for the day of the Belmont and wound up with three wins on the early card prior to the big race. That race day experience of riding solid mounts over Big Sandy gave Desormeaux an edge.

Now we are aware that the Kentucky Derby winner Mine that Bird has a very talented half brother Summer Bird.
But don’t forget Dunkirk, the horse with the speed that carried the race and came in second.

What Desormeaux knew from past experience over the giant Belmont oval could only be learned by multiple races over the track. Big Sandy as the Belmont track is called is as different from Churchill Downs as the Indianapolis brickyard is to Talladega, Alabama in auto racing.

Kent Desormeaux and Summer Bird had something else going for them, Nick Zito the winning New York trainer. Summer Bird and his trainer Tim Ice were welcomed into and housed in Zito’s barn for their stay in New York.

Zito has spoiled the chances of several Triple Crown threats with wins in the Belmont, which includes Birdstone’s win over Smarty Jones in 2004.
 
Of the first three horses to cross the finish line Dunkirk was the only one to sustain an injury, a fracture in his left hind cannon bone. Fortunately it’s not life threatening, but it will keep him out of racing for a while.
Belmont winner Summer Bird returns to his Louisiana Downs home base for some rest. Then according his trainer Tim Ice he’ll begin to train for the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on August 2nd.  The next goal will be the Grade 1, $1 million Travers at Saratoga on August 29th.
 
Mine that Bird’s trainer Chip Woolley said his horse came out of the race in great condition and was set for an eight-week rest.

In the meantime the owners and Woolley are aiming for the Breeders Cup Classic at Santa Anita on November 7th. To prepare for that race they want to keep him on the dirt and run him against three year olds.
The horse seems to have gotten through the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont better than his trainer. Woolley admitted that hobbling through the grind of a Triple Crown campaign on crutches and a broken leg finally took its tole on him.

‘Talk about whipped, about half way through dinner last night I just said guys I’m done. And I’m not that type at all. I couldn’t believe how I hit the wall last night. I never thought I’d be sitting here sort of down about running third in the Belmont. This has been a lifetime dream.’
 
Coming Attractions:
‘Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone’
 
‘Doc Holliday’s gambling skills, six-gun and caustic wit created a western legend. But Sister Mary Melanie, Margaret Mitchell and ‘Gone With the Wind’ tell the rest of the story and give us the real Doc Holliday.’
 
‘The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle’
 
Washington orders military to develop hurricane-warning system. Navy vets back from Pacific War form Squadron 114 and flying out of Masters Field, Miami, Florida chased and charted eleven tropical storms and hurricanes the season of 1945, which started the process and development of our present Hurricane Warning System.

For updates go to www.TomsHurricanes.com 
 
Writers Notebook:

A How to Book that Works:
My Review

Dan Poynter’s Self Publishing Manual is what the title implies – and a whole lot more. The book is also a marketing guide and goes a long way in the public relations area.

During the course of reading the book I jotted down a dozen or more subject notes and I’ll share some of them with you.

Poynter talks about reviews, testimonials and how your web site is at the heart of your promotional campaign. The section on news releases gives you an example of their format and how to tailor the release to your material.

The chapter titled “Advertising Your Book,” not only gives mail and print information you are told how to obtain radio interviews, which gives you free airtime to promote your book.

Those are just a few of the great ideas. Anyone with a book in the works or one that’s ready for the market will benefit from this manual.

Tom Barnes -- Actor, Writer and Hurricane Hunter.
Check out my website for books, blogs, western legends, a literary icon, reviews and interviews. Also my novels The Goring Collection and Doc Holliday’s Road to Tombstone along with a non fiction remembrance of The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
www.tombarnes39.com
www.TomsHurricanes.com
www.RocktheTower.com