Canadian trainer David Cotey purchased Mine That Bird for $9,500 from the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale.

He and his partners raced the gelding at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, where he won four of six starts and was voted the 2008 Canadian Champion 2-yr-old Male Horse.

[6] Following overnight rain, the Churchill Downs natural dirt track was rated as "sloppy" for the 2009 Kentucky Derby.

[5] Ridden by Calvin Borel, Mine That Bird had trouble out of the starting gate and was left about eight lengths behind the rest of the field.

[5] By the time the pack of horses was running down the backstretch, Mine That Bird was so far back that NBC's announcer Tom Durkin at first missed seeing him.

[7] Calvin Borel, using the ground-saving, rail-skimming riding technique that won him the 2007 Derby with Street Sense, charged past horses along the backstretch and at the turn for home moved into contention.

[10] The day after his Derby win, Mine That Bird's connections were uncertain if they would come back two weeks later and try for the Preakness Stakes.

As with the Derby, Mine That Bird came from far back in the field on the final turn and was closing rapidly, but the finish line came before he could catch the filly.

The bill was introduced by state representative Candy Spence Ezzell, who explained that "Dr. Leonard Blach and Mark Allen [Mine That Bird's owners] have brought New Mexico positive worldwide recognition."

Mine That Bird's owner Mark Allen plays a role in the true-crime drama Practice to Deceive by Ann Rule.