My Old Canadian Home

He's one of us: Yesterday's winner of the Kentucky Derby, Mine the Bird, spent his formative year in Canada.

He was born in a humble log stable in Kentucky but was bought for $9500 (all amounts in US dollars) as a yearling and brought to Canada. As a two-year-old, he won four races in Canada and became Canada's champion two-year-old male. Somewhere in there, he was gelded. He was sold to owners in New Mexico for $400,000. Not a bad return on investment.

And then he won the Derby: more than $1.4 million.

Not that it's all about the money.

Because besides spending time here and getting into the Derby only on the basis of his performance in Canada, he's at least part-Canadian for two other reasons.

1. He didn't get much respect before the win. The Racing Form called him, as one of the "bottom feeders," "really really weak." He was known as the horse "in the plain brown wrapper." (All information from the Globe and Mail.) At post time, the odds on him were 50 to 1.

2. He developed into a real racer--a winner, a figure to respect--in Canada. But it was in the U.S. that he achieved real recognition and a seven-figure salary.

In other words, he's like a Mike: Mike Myers, Michael J. Fox, Michael Ignatieff.

However he is or is not tied to Canada--that's OK. Canadians will claim him as one of their own. Because Canadians are nice like that.