Filmmaker putting finishing touches on movie about longshot winner Mine That Bird

The story about the 50-to-1 long shot horse from Sunland Park Racetrack
that won the Kentucky Derby is moving closer to a movie theater near you.

Hollywood producer and director Jim Wilson described his
moviemaking depiction of the Mine That Bird horse-racing success story during a special presentation at Sunland Park Racetrack on Wednesday.

Wilson has tasted success in Hollywood, earning an Academy Award for his work with Kevin Coster in “Dances with Wolves.”

But movies aren’t his only interest. He’s owned thoroughbreds for 20 years. When New Mexico racehorse Mine That Bird, facing 50-to-1 betting odds, won the
2009 Kentucky Derby, it inspired Wilson to write a screenplay for a movie that will be called “50 to 1.”

He said that Hollywood studios passed on the project, fearing the public
would not be interested in another horse-racing movie.

Undeterred, Wilson personally found investors and put his own money into the $8 million production. Shooting lasted 38 days in New Mexico and nine days at famed Churchill Downs in Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby.

Shooting wraps up this weekend at Sunland Park Racetrack, and the next few months will be devoted to editing and post-production. Wilson said the movie “does not look like a cheap film.”

Once editing and production are completed, Wilson will sell the movie rights and it will be up to the studio when to release the film, most likely in late 2013 or early 2014.

Hollywood actors Skeet Ulrich, William Davane and Christian Kane star along with Mine That Bird jockey Calvin Borrell, who plays himself in the movie.

Mine That Bird trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley, a Dalhart, Texas, native who came to Sunland Park Racetrack in 1988 and who trained and drove the thoroughbred across
the country in 2009, has a cameo role in the film.