Out of Nowhere Horses: Nate's Mineshaft

Note: This is the first of a series called Out of Nowhere Horses. These are horses who have just come out of nowhere to win a stakes race. The posts in this series will be posted at least once a month.

Horse's Name: Nate's Mineshaft
Age: 5
Sire: Mineshaft
Dam: Angel's Tearlet
Broodmare Sire: Silver Deputy

Profile:

Until Feb. 25, 2011, not that many people had heard of Nate's Mineshaft. He had been bouncing around the Louisiana tracks with not much success. In matter of fact, his best track was the Fair Grounds where he won all, but one of his races (only his maiden breaker at Delta is his lone win outside of the New Orleans track). Heck in December of last year, he even was entered and won a claiming race. Everything changed in the Mineshaft Handicap. In that race he was facing Louisiana Handicap winner Thiskyhasnolimit, a G3 winner at 2 and was finally starting to his stride once again at 5. Also in the race was Alma d' Oro who is G2 placed, Fast Alex who won a stakes earlier in the meet. Coming off an allowance race which he won, Nate was made the longest shot on the board. Somebody forgot to tell the bettors that he was going to go gate to wire to pull the major upset (although the race was marred by the breakdown of Thiskyhasnolimit).

You can watch the Mineshaft here

Many people once again wrote him off in this past Sunday's New Orleans Handicap. He was facing Fast Alex again (who was 2nd in the Mineshaft), but that wasn't all. He also had to face the defending Louisiana Derby winner Pants On Fire, Toby's Corner who pulled off one of the biggest upsets the year before when he defeated Uncle Mo in the Wood Memorial, Redeemed who came on at the end of last year with wins in the Oklahoma Derby and Discovery Handicap, and the defending champ Mission Impazible who should be a G1 winner, but hasn't put it all together yet. The race would have been even deeper had Nehro who finished second in the LA, AR and KY Derbys last year had tied up Saturday and was forced to be scratched. Nate once again was up against it. So what would he do? Well... All he would do is lead gate to wire once again. In matter of fact he ran away and hid from the field setting a track record.

You can watch the New Orleans Handicap here

So what's next for him? He's going to have to prove that his Fair Grounds wins where no fluke. Which means possibly a start in the Stephen Foster where he could face many of the same horses, plus Nehro. If he does well there, then we could call him a serious threat to the big horses Acclamation, To Honor and Serve, and Stay Thirsty.

(Edit: Won the Lone Star Handicap today by 10 lengths! (5/28/2012))