Trainer of Kentucky Derby Winner Breaks Foot; Put Down After Race
Woolley Bully. Too much 'tude got Trainer Bennie Woolley Jr.(right) put down.
LOUISVILLE, KY (Sportsman’s Daily Wire Service) A hobbling Bennie Woolley Jr., the trainer of Mine That Bird, the 50-1 upset winner at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby was put down shortly after his horse won the race.
“It’s a tragedy,” said Mine That Bird team member Leonard Melish. “To see Bennie struggling like that on his crutches was a bit too much for any of us to handle. He was beginning to get ornery – so we shot him. It was quick and merciful. He begged us to rethink the situation, but we already made up our minds. He’s in that big stable in the sky. No more shoveling through ankle deep horse manure for him anymore.”
Calvin Borel, the animated jockey who rode Mine That Bird to victory was relieved.
“He wasn’t the same after the foot injury,” Borel said. “Hobbling around in that ten gallon hat and acting all cocksure of himself wasn’t the Bennie I knew. His enthusiasm was suddenly replaced by arrogance, and when that happens, you just have to pull out your pistol and do what’s right. I think we did the right thing here today.”
Mine That Bird learned his trainer was euthanized just yesterday morning and was beginning to get suspicious after not seeing him at the victory dinner.
“I’d like to say I miss him,” the horse said. “But he was a real dick after he broke his foot. This is a business, and part of business is to have a positive working relationship. Hopefully now we can all just move on and get us a Triple Crown. But first I’d like to show that pretty filly over there the real meaning of horse cock.”
Tags: Kentucky Derby