How much is that Birdie in the window?

A blogger I follow, Sid Fernando + Observations, reports that an insider has told him offers are flitting in for Kentucky Derby champion Mine That Bird.

"Sid" reports the asking price could be in the range of $4 million to $5 million.

I don't find that surprising, as the horse has proven himself to be game in follow-up (narrow) losses in the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. Barring injury, he has a bright future ahead, including rich races this summer against other 3-year-olds, and a potential trip to the Breeders' Cup. And, as a gelding, he could run on for years, although that could be another reason for owners Double Eagle Ranch (Mark Allen) and Buena Suerte Equine to sell now; he has no stud value.

Clearly Mark Allen isn't afraid to spend money on horses; he dropped something akin to three-quarters of a million on a bunch at sales last year. And with a multimillion-dollar oil field business sale in his recent past (his share a reported $30 million), he isn't hurting for money and doesn't in any way need to sell Mine That Bird.

Personally, I don't see the joy in buying a horse somebody else "made" in hopes that he'll get me in an owner's box at the Breeders' Cup. And if a horse that had done this much for me, I think you'd have to pry his papers from my cold, dead fingers.

But Allen went down that exact road himself -- buying MTB for $400,000 essentially after the horse had already earned his Canadian juvenile championship at Woodbine, and for the express purpose of a quick wheelback into the 2008 BC Juvenile. So he certainly shouldn't be above selling the colt to someone making the same gamble, and for about a tenfold profit.