Mine That Bird puts in work for Lukas

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/02/2010 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas had 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird workout Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs. The four-year-old gelding worked a half-mile in 48 seconds with his regular jockey Calvin Borel riding.

"He has really blossomed since last fall and has gotten bigger. The time off did him good," Borel said. "He was real good this morning. He went nice and easy and galloped out good."

Lukas took over the training of Mine That Bird last month from Chip Woolley who engineered the 2009 season for owners Dr, Leonard Blach and Mark Allen.

"He went real nice," Lukas said. "It is a delight to see one breeze like that and enjoy what he is doing. He gets over the ground beautifully. Calvin was excited. The first thing he said to me was 'That was something.'"

Mine That Bird galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 2/5. Borel had not been aboard the gelding since they finished ninth behind Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic last year at Santa Anita Park.

While this year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs is on the calendar, Lukas has not finalized the gelding's first start of 2010.

"When we start, we want him to be dead right," Lukas indicated. "Our long- range plan is the Whitney (Handicap at 1 1/8-miles on August 7 at Saratoga). He took a big step forward today."

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.