Column: This year's Preakness Stakes has New Mexico roots

When Mine That Bird crossed the finish line nearly seven lengths ahead of his competition in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, it set off a flurry of research in trying to find out just where Sunland Park was and where trainer Chip Woolley had come from.

No one, perhaps not even Woolley, who drove two days from New Mexico to Louisville, had expected the 3-year-old gelding to romp away to the largest margin of victory in the Run for the Roses since 1946 and take the country by storm in much that same way that Smarty Jones did just five years ago.

Now, after a few days of contemplation, Woolley has shipped Mine That Bird to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for today's running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown.

But the winning combination that crossed the line together in Kentucky - Mine That Bird and jockey Calvin Borel - won't be the same one that walks onto the track today for the 1-3/16 gallop over the dirt.

Borel, you see, also is the regular rider for Rachel Alexandra, for sure the top filly in the country and maybe the best horse in the land. That's a question that will be answered later this afternoon when she battles against the boys for the first time in a career that features five victories in as many starts, including the prestigious Kentucky Oaks, with Borel in the irons, the day before the Kentucky Derby.

Borel's defection put Woolley in the unexpected position of having to find a jockey to ride the KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER just days before, now, his biggest race of the year.

And it's likely that Woolley had plenty of volunteers after everyone in the racing world watched Mine That Bird run off the pace and then close like a Tasmanian devil to earn the blanket of roses in the winner's circle.

Woolley, though, stayed close to his New Mexico roots and found a proven rider with impeccable credentials - Mike Smith, who was born in Roswell in 1965 and began riding round the state when he was 11, finally getting his license when he was 16.

Smith is one of the best riders in the business, with victories in the 2005 Kentucky Derby aboard Giacomo and the 1993 Preakness Stakes aboard Prairie Bayou.

He has won 12 Breeders' Cup races and knows a little bit about bringing longshots to the wire first - Giacomo was a 50-1 shot to win the Derby in 2005; Mine That Bird went off at 51-1 two weeks ago.

So, despite Borel's choice of mounts, Woolley has found the perfect hand to put in the irons for today's race - someone who is smart, patient, tough in the pack and experienced enough to know where to set up on the backstretch to give his horse the chance to be first to the line.

Most importantly, Smith knows how to win and it wouldn't be an upset should he pilot Mine That Bird to two-thirds of the Triple Crown.