Mine That Bird’s stunning upset captured the attention – and hearts – of horse racing fans around the world. (Photo by Anne M. Eberhardt/Blood-Horse)

The movie, which was shot in New Mexico, included local talent in the form of a veterinarian who treated an injured horse. Nothing unusual about that, except the vet was Leonard Blach, co-owner of Mine That Bird, the 50-1 longshot who, with Calvin Borel, came from dead last to thread through the field on the rail and fly by million-dollar horses to capture the 135th Kentucky Derby.

The stunning upset warmed the hearts – and wallets of the lucky people who bet on the gelding – of racehorse fans around the world. Even Blach, his partner in Mine That Bird, Mark Allen, and their trainer, Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., didn’t bet on the horse  who sold for $9,500 as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale.

Last fall, Blach, 74, and Allen purchased the Thoroughbred gelding, by Birdstone and out of Mining My Own by Smart Strike, privately for $400,000 in Canada to race in New Mexico. The 2008 Canadian Champion 2-year-old finished second in the Borderland Derby and fourth in the Sunland Derby, both in New Mexico, after an inauspicious U.S. debut at the 2008 Breeder’s Cup Juvenile in Santa Anita, Calif., where he placed 12th.

His owners and trainer only hoped the gelding would finish sixth or better at the Kentucky Derby.

“I just wanted him to be competitive,” Blach said. “I thought he had a lot of talent, but my heart sunk when he was last the first time down the stretch. We knew he had about two minutes to see a recovery and when he did, we were all quite amazed to see it.”

Blach was tapped to play a vet in Casey’s Shadow while working at Buena Suerte Ranch, which he started in 1972 in Roswell, N.M. Today he owns Buena Suerte Equine, a 90-acre commercial breeding facility for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds in Roswell.

He was asked to be in the movie pretty much by accident.

“It’s kind of like the Derby, I guess,” he said.  “I was just in that right place at the right time.”

The significance of the movie wasn’t lost on Blach’s longtime friend, Gregg Veneklasen, who has known the self-deprecating vet with a quick wit for more than 20 years. Veneklasen, an equine reproduction specialist who performs embryo transfers of equine clones, owns Timber Creek Veterinary Hospital in Canyon, Texas.

He got his start in veterinary medicine while working in Santa Fe, N.M., for Blach, who recommended him for vet school.

“Leonard is just one of those down-to-earth kind of guys,” he said. “He’s that rare guy who what you see is what you get.

“After the Derby, everybody in the clinic said the race was like Casey’s Shadow. I said, ‘You guys probably don’t know this, but Leonard was the vet in that movie. It’s really a feel-good kind of a deal.’ ”

Like the trainer in Casey’s Shadow, Blach dreamed years ago of winning the All-American Futurity, Veneklasen recalled.

“When I was 17 or 18, he told me he wanted to win it,” he said. “When I texted him after the Derby to congratulate him and mentioned that, he said he didn’t remember. He was so excited. After all, his horse had just won the Kentucky Derby!”

Sharing the credit
Three days after Mine That Bird won the Derby, Blach left Kentucky for Roswell to do what he usually does – breed and care for horses at his clinic. Mine That Bird made a gallent run in the Preakness, the second leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, in Maryland on May 16, where he again zoomed up from last place and finished a close second behind Rachel Alexandra.

Perhaps now, the gelding will go on to race at the Belmont Stakes in New York, the Triple Crown’s final leg that Birdstone, Mine That Bird’s sire, won in 2004. Birdstone’s sire, Grindstone, won the Kentucky Derby in 1996.

Blach went back to work before heading for the Preakness.

“I’ve got a pretty good crew that can take care of that while I’m gone,” he said. “But I’ll jump in there and help them a little bit. Mark, Chip and I are still on cloud nine. A lot of trainers, like Bob Baffert, came and congratulated us, which was nice. It’s really been a ride. But there’s probably a hundred people behind us, back home and with us in Kentucky, that had something to do with this horse. A lot of the credit goes to those people, too.”

Mine That Bird’s owner, Leonard Blach (far right with roses), celebrates his horse’s win with Calvin Borel (from left), Chip Woolley and co-owner Mark Allen. (Photo courtesy of SureBet Racing)

“He was a great horseman,” Blach said. “He showed Percherons and took them to the World’s Fair, and things like that.”

After graduating from Colorado State University with a veterinary degree, Blach moved to New Mexico in 1961 and eventually settled in Roswell at the Buena Suerte Ranch. In the 1970s, the operation was the largest Quarter Horse racehorse breeding farm in the United States, standing racing giants Easy Jet, Go Man Go and Rocket Wrangler, the sire of Dash For Cash.

Today, his practice stands two Thoroughbred stallions, Bay Head King and So Long Birdie, and four young Quarter Horse studs – Genuine Strawfly, Southern Corona, Metallic Lion and Deefirst – whose foal crops have done very well. Because he empathizes with the economic situation his clients face, Blach explained in a newsletter on Buena Suerte’s Web site that the clinic has not raised its fees and will defer the stud fee on approved mares until the foal stands and nurses.

He, Allen and Woolley decided to give the roses that comprised the garland that Mine That Bird received after his Kentucky Derby victory to fans at Churchill Downs the day after the Derby was held. After the garland was placed on the new statue of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, it was removed, and Woolley and Allen handed each rose to a fan at the track.

“We just wanted to contribute something back to the industry and all the fans that were there who supported us,” explained Blach, who met Allen’s father, Bill, many years ago. Bill Allen, and later his son, who owns Double Eagle Ranch Inc. in Roswell, were owners of Easy Jet.

Mark Allen and Blach also partner on a couple of 2-year-old Quarter Horse racehorses and own some broodmares together. Allen introduced Blach to Woolley, who became Allen’s friend after the rodeo bareback rider-turned-trainer helped him out in a bar fight 25 years ago.

“I seem to attract colorful characters,” Blach said with a laugh. “I’m glad to have them as partners. I’ve been associated with them for a long time.”

While Woolley and Allen wore black cowboy hats at the Derby, Blach has some hats of his own, as well. Like his partner and trainer, he considers himself a cowboy.

“I’ve ridden a lot of horses,” he laughed again, “and still have a couple of cowboy hats that fit me.”

Blach has passed his passion for horses to the three children he has with his wife, Joanne, to whom he has been married for more than 50 years. Their son, Kevin, is a veterinarian in Roswell with a practice that includes horses. Their oldest daughter, Serena, worked for equine vets before she married and moved to Seattle. Pamela, the youngest daughter, lives in Encinitas, Calif., where she is married to a veterinarian and works as a vet technician. Blach and Joanne have nine grandchildren.

His wife and children went to the Kentucky Derby with him.

“Our wives have put up with us through this thing, so they deserve some credit, too,” he said.
Although he goes to the Bluegrass State often for Thoroughbred sales and the Breeder’s Cup, this was Blach’s first time to attend the Derby. And what a day it was.

Mint juleps helped
The morning of the Derby, Blach went to Barn 42 with Allen and Woolley to see Mine That Bird one more time before the race.

“We did our normal routine, but naturally we were a little bit nervous,” he said. “We had a few mint juleps to settle our nerves.”

When Allen and Woolley, who hauled the gelding for 21 hours from New Mexico to Kentucky himself, arrived in Louisville, the first thing they wanted was a jockey to ride their horse.

“Calvin didn’t have a mount and he was available,” Blach said. “Somebody recommended we talk with him, so Mark and Chip kind of anchored him down to ride him. We were really fortunate that we got him.”

Although Mine That Bird has often been described as “small” after he squirted through a hole and drove past the field to capture the Derby, he’s actually an average-sized horse who stands 15 to 15.1 hands, according to Blach. But what sets the gelding apart is his intelligence.

“I think he’s exceptionally smart,” Blach said. “He trains well and responds to everything. He responded so well to Calvin’s cues in that race, by the way he threaded him through that field on the rail. When that horse got out in front or saw he was coming to the front, I think he knew as well as Calvin did that they had smooth sailing.

“I think he’s real smart. That’s quite obvious to all of us. I think he knows the trainer real well and the groom, Charlie Figuero, that’s been with him. And he also knows Calvin. You can see that in his eye.”
Blach’s friend, Gregg Veneklasen, has performed embryo transfers of clones of many of the Quarter Horse world’s top horses. Clayton, the clone of Charmayne James’ 10-time World Champion barrel racer, stands at his facility in Texas.

Has Blach, an equine reproduction specialist for 25 years who has discussed cloning with Veneklasen, considered cloning Mine That Bird? After all, the horse is a gelding, and even though the Jockey Club registers only those Thoroughbreds produced by live cover, a clone of Mine That Bird could be a valuable stallion in the sporthorse world.

“I haven’t considered cloning ‘Bird,’” Blach said. “His Kentucky Derby win was amazing, but it’s not something I ever imagined would happen. I think cloning definitely has a place, and we’ll see it’s one of the technologies that’s emerging right now. I think we’ll have to cope with it and make some rules that enable us to go forward.”

His spunky gelding made thousands of racehorse fans take notice after his stunning victory. Among them was Dan Stewart, co-principal of Stewart & Associates, a communications firm in Louisville with clients that include top Quarter Horse trainer Clinton Anderson, the American Association of Equine Practitioners and Equibrand.

Stewart, who has attended the Derby for years, wasn’t particularly impressed the first time he saw Mine That Bird two days before the Derby.

“I was on the backside of the track at 6 o’clock Thursday morning as the sun was coming up,” he recalled. “I watched Desert Party [who placed 14th] go. I watched I Want Revenge before he was scratched, and I saw Mine That Bird. On Thursday, I wouldn’t give you a quarter for Mine That Bird.

“One of his front legs is crooked, he’s cow-hocked in the back and he’s just a regular sort-of-nothin’ brown horse. But he must have a heart of gold. That run, for sure, will be in the racing Hall of Fame. It was just amazing.”

Stewart, who team ropes, was delighted to see a cowboy like Woolley take his place next to the Bob Bafferts and D. Wayne Lukases of the racing world.

“We in Kentucky think Mine That Bird’s victory is absolutely wonderful for racing,” he said. “For a horse that someone originally paid $9,500 for, and then Leonard and Mr. Allen paid $400,000, to win against horses that a sheik paid $1 million for one and $2.5 million for another says that anybody can really recognize their dream.

“It’s a long shot, but it’s possible. That race is the stuff movies are made of.”

The victory was also one for New Mexico, noted Blach, the native Coloradoan who has made New Mexico his home for more than 50 years. 

“Nobody from New Mexico has ever won the Derby. That was a big thing for us,” he said. “When Mark and I bought Mine That Bird, we got him as a racehorse. We weren’t looking for a stallion prospect. We were just looking for a horse we could take to the races and have some fun.”

The cowboys obviously succeeded.

“Beyond our expectations,” he added.

No doubt about that.