Derby winner Mine That Bird leaves Churchill Downs in Ky. to prepare for Aug. 1 race in W.Va.

Derby winner Mine That Bird leaves for W.Va. race

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird has left Churchill Downs for West Virginia’s Mountaineer Racetrack, where the horse is set to run in the Aug. 1 West Virginia Derby.

The trailer carrying the 3-year-old gelding pulled away from the Louisville track early Friday with trainer Chip Woolley driving. Churchill has been Mine That Bird’s home since the horse’s arrival a few days before his upset win in the Derby.

The West Virginia Derby is the first step on a summer and fall campaign for Mine That Bird that’s expected to include the Shadwell Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 29 and the ultimate goal of the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita. Mine That Bird hasn’t raced since a third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.