It’s been nearly five years since longshot Mine That Bird won the 2009 Kentucky Derby in a rail-skimming trip under the guidance of jockey Calvin Borel. The underdog tale of a group of New Mexico cowboys and a little horse that could makes its Kentucky theatrical debut Friday, April 18. But before the release of the film, fans can enjoy a meet-and-greet with the actors and the horse.
Kentucky Derby fans will remember when jockey Calvin Borel sneaked through on the rail en route to his second Kentucky Derby win in two years with the 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird. Trainer Chip Woolley and the winning connections from Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine were unknown to most fans at the time, but their story quickly unfolded on local and national news. The 1,500-mile journey in a Ford F-450 Lariat that took the little horse with a winning heart and the trainer, who donned a black cowboy hat and a broken leg, from a fourth-place finish in the Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico to a longshot win in the Kentucky Derby read like a Hollywood script and now the world is seeing the story played out in Hollywood fashion on the big screen.
The cast and filmmakers of “50 to 1” have been touring the country in promotion of the film. They’ve followed the same path taken by Mine That Bird and his connections on their journal from their New Mexico home to Louisville’s Churchill Downs. However, instead of the F-450 pickup attached to a one-horse trailer that Woolley used for his travels, the crew has traveled in style in a large, comfortable tour bus bedecked in the movie’s artwork.
The bus has finally made its way to Louisville and fans have two opportunities to meet members of the cast and filmmakers in Louisville this week.
