Photos: Galway-born Kentucky Derby contender Tencendur feisty at Churchill Downs - Albany Times Union
- It's a beautiful morning at Churchill Downs where the thoroughbreds were out for workouts before the sun was up. The 141st Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday. Below is Mark Singelais profile of Tencendur, the Kentucky Derby contender born at a farm in Galway:. At Birsh Family Farm in Galway, where Tencendur was born about 35 miles northwest of Albany, the college students who work there called him "Mama's Boy. That gentle foal grew into a towering thoroughbred, standing 17 hands tall, who earned a spot in the 20-horse field for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. Tencendur punched his ticket with a second-place finish in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 4. With a single victory in five career starts, Tencendur figures to be one of the longest shots on the board in the 141st Run for the Roses. In the past 40 years, two horses with only a maiden victory to their credit have won the Derby: 8-1 Alysheba in 1987 and 50-1 Giacomo in 2005. However, that's nothing compared to the odds Tencendur overcame just to get to the starting gate. He was delivered by the broodmare Still Secret on the 100-acre former dairy farm that owner Philip Birsh bought and renovated in 2006. Birsh Family Farm manager Mike Tobin , 56, handled the delivery and raised the colt with help from Foti and... Source: www.timesunion.com
