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[11]May 15, 2009www.issaquah-reporter.com • www.sammamish-reporter.com
SPORTS
ISSAQ
UAH
SAM
MAM
ISH
BY KEVIN ENDEJAN
Serena Blach’s shoes are caked in mud.
But, don’t think for a second she’s going to wash them — now, or ever.
� e black Anne Klein heels will forever be a piece of memorabilia the Issaquah resident brought home a� er her fa-ther’s horse, Mine � at Bird, pulled o� the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history earlier this month.
On May 2, the Roswell, New Mexico-based horse won the 135th running of the Derby as a 50-1 long-shot, paying out $103.20 on a $2 bet.
In 1913, Donerail had the largest payout at $189.40.
Mine � at Bird, and jockey Calvin Borel, moved even deeper in Derby his-tory a� er winning by 6 3/4 lengths — the largest mar-gin of victory since Assault won by 8 lengths in 1946.
“It was incredible,” said Blach, who watched the race from a box seat at Church-
hill Downs with her father, mother, brother and sister.
Her father, Dr. Leonard Blach, co-owns Mine � at Bird with Mark Allen.
At 74, the equine veteri-narian has been involved with horses for nearly his entire life, entering the world of racing in the early ‘70s. He never had a horse in the Kentucky Derby
prior to this year. “He’s won some
pretty big races with other horses that he’s had, but this is the crown and glory for any horseman,” said Serena, who lives in the Klahanie neighborhood, and has resided in Issaquah since 1983.
� e Kentucky Derby experience
provided Serena memo-ries she will never forget, including taking “the walk” from the barn to the saddle paddock.
“� ere was over 153,000 people at that race, it was televised into 97 coun-tries and a billion people watched it,” she said. “And then I live in Issaquah, it was just wild.”
Admittedly, her most memorable experience
came 2 minutes, 2.66 seconds into the race when Mine � at Bird crossed the � nish line uncontested.
“We studied all the horses and we � gured that there were six other horses that had odds as bad as ours,” Serena said, laugh-ing. “We just wanted to be able to run with the pack. � ere were another eight that were 20-1 and 30-1, and then you have the upper echelon. So, we just thought ‘OK, so that’s 14 all together, so if we can just run in that 14 we’re going to be thrilled.’”
When Mine � at Bird got squished to the back of the pack at the start of the race, Serena and her family anticipated the worst.
“By the time they went around that � rst turn he was really, really far behind,” she said. “At that point, I was standing on a chair with my sister ... when I saw how far behind he was I got o� my chair, and my heart went to the pit of my stomach.”
Mine � at Bird, and the rest of the pack, then disappeared behind tents in the in� eld. When they reappeared, Serena and her family members looked to the back of the pack — but saw nothing. � ere were thoughts he might have broken down in the back of the � eld, until Serena heard her brother yell “He’s mak-ing a move.”
“Our eyes just kept mov-ing up and by the time I saw where he was, he was two links ahead of every-body,” Serena said. “Right then, I swear my brain just stopped. I’ve never in my life had such a surreal thing. I turned around and looked to my family to get con� rmation. When I looked my brother was on his knees and pumping his � sts and screaming. � en I looked over to my dad and he had his hands on the rails and his eyes were as big as saucers, then I knew it was true.”
While the experience might be impossible to
duplicate, there is hope the magic can continue this weekend at the Preakness — the second leg of the Triple Crown. Mine � at Bird, a once 50-1 long-shot, enters the Preakness with 7-2 odds. Only Rachel Alexandria, ironically the horse jockey Calvin Borel will ride this time around, has lower odds at 3-2.
Serena, along with hus-band Je� Villnow, and their three adult children Kayla, Jaden and Cassie, will all attend Saturday’s race in Baltimore, Md.
With Mine � at Bird’s new-found reputation, Ser-ena said her father and the rest of the family will take the same “whatever hap-pens, happens” approach they did at Churchill Downs.
“� at Kentucky Derby experience, you could just never top that,” she said. “� ere are no great expecta-tions. If something happens that’s great, but if not, that Kentucky Derby will last us a lifetime.”
Issaquah’s own shares in Kentucky Derby history
Serena Blach holds three roses her father gave her from the Mine That Bird’s garland after he won the Kentucky Derby on May 2. Blach also has a lock of the horse’s hair and a pair of muddy shoes to remember the event by. KEVIN ENDEJAN, Reporter
“When I looked at my brother he was on his knees pumping his � sts and screaming. Then I looked over to my dad and he had h is hands on the rails and his eyes were as big as saucers, then I knew it was true.” – Serena Blach
ARSENAL TRYOUTS BEGIN SATURDAY
Issaquah Soccer Club Select Arsenal BU-15 team will
have try-outs at 5:30 p.m., May 17 and 7:30 p.m.,
May 20 at the Issaquah High School Stadium. The
team will participate in the Washington State Youth
Soccer Association Premier Division 1 for the 2009-
2010 season. Go to www.issaquahsoccerclub.org and
click on the “tryouts” button.
PARKS AND REC HOSTS ALL-COMERS MEETThe Issaquah Parks and
Recreation Department is hosting two all-comers track and � eld meets for preschool
through grade 5 in May. The � rst is Friday, May 15 at
Liberty High School, and the second is Friday, May 29 at
Issaquah High School. A variety of age appropriate
running, jumping, and throwing events will be
o� ered. The meets start at 6 p.m. and registration fee is
$4 for preschool, and $6 for grades K-5.
BY KEVIN ENDEJAN
Skyline pitcher Blake Fulghum continued to force ground balls, but it was his defensive support that had head coach Chris Tamminen scratching his head a� er Monday’s 7-0 winner-to-state loss to Lake Washington.
“We could not make plays for (Fulghum),” Tamminen said. “We could not keep the lead-o� guy o� base when he got his ground balls.”
Lake Washington’s lead-o� hitter reached in
every inning, and scored � ve times. � ree of those Kangaroo runners reached via errors, and one was safe a� er a dropped third strike.
“We just didn’t play good defensively,” Tamminen said.
Lake Washington put itself on the board, 1-0, in the bottom of the second when Alex Donnelly poked an opposite-� eld single through the right side of the in� eld. � e Kangaroos had a chance to pour it on in the second, but ran themselves into a rare play. With runners on second and third, Christian Kaiser
drilled a groundball to third baseman Shawn Ellis. � e runner got caught between third and home, another runner got caught between second and third, and the last runner was tagged out between second and � rst for an unconventional triple play.
“I told the guys it was the most embarrassing play in Lake Washington baseball history,” Kangaroo head coach Derek Bingham said.
According to Bingham, his team’s answer the next half inning may have been the deciding factor. Le� -handed starter Tyler Stau-
dacher retired the Spartans in order via a strikeout and two groundouts.
“We went out and got 1-2-3 in the next inning and stopped the momen-tum right there, and we moved on,” Bingham said.
Staudacher pitched a complete seven innings, allowing just four hits with � ve strikeouts. He also had two double plays turned behind him.
“It’s the best he’s been all year,” Bingham said. “He had command of his change-up and his fastball.”
Skyline stumbles in winner-to-state game, eliminated next day
Skyline catcher Jacob Shannon isn’t quite able to tag out Lake Washington’s John Shimabukuro Monday. JOHNATHATN YEE, For the Reporter
Sports Contact and submissions: Kevin Endejan
[email protected] or 425-391-0363
[ more BASEBALL page 16 ]
