Story on Borel
 

I'm not sure if anyone else saw this but i thought i would put this up for everyone to read

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/colum...pat&id=2860738

I can honestly say, I could not be happier for borel and i hope that he has the horse to win the triple crown. Hard work does pay off.

DrugS's analysis of his record at CD proves how underrated this guy is.

Professionally speaking, with 20 jocks in the race, I had quite a few clients in Derby. Calvin Borel is not one of them. At the risk of sounding like I am not or wasn't supporting or rooting for my clients -- how can you not have rooted for this guy, and now how can you not be happy for him. After the race, when "you" couldn't or didn't win, this is the guy you were supposed to be happy for.

Eric

Great story! Thanks for posting that, Chad.

My kinda guy, shows up, works hard, doesn't whine.

Shows what you can do with hard work.

I wonder why they stuck with Borel? This is not what generaly happens. After a colt shows some ability the conections start looking for some higher profile riders. My hat is off to the connections for standing pat with Borel. He has always been a producer. When Pat Dy left the LAD,Oaklawn and Arksarben circut. Borel ,Ardoin and a few others became premier riders there. After about five years the finally convinced Borel to move his tack to Ky . where he always performed well but always some young rider would come along and get all the praise. There are several similar jockeys out there and I hope this a trend with them getting the oppertunity for the big time. Foremost in my opinion is Jon Court,also a LAD ex.

He was so happy he made me happy.

Why does he look like he has false teeth? Did he take a bad spill and get his teeth knocked out? Something does not look right. Makes him look very old.

great piece, thanks for posting.

Jon Court has been in Southern California, riding at Santa Anita and Hollywood for what? nearly a year now? Been doing quite nicely, thank you - he finished 8th in the recently concluded Santa Anita meeting. All the retirements over the last 2-3 years (Pincay, McCarron, Stevens, Krone, etc.) have opened up the SoCal colony to guys like Court to come in and make a impact.

Remember what happened with Afleet Alex -- they didn't stick with him! He got the mount BACK. This really speaks to the connections, who calls the shots, and several other factors. Many people were saying this about Hard Spun and Mario Pino.

Looking at this from a fan's perspective is very different than looking at it from a trainer's perspective. Mario Pino has probably ridden in about 30,000, maybe 40,000 races and he has won 6000 races. It's anyone's guess as to how many horses he's worked also. Anyone who believes Hard Spun's "fast" Derby work was because Mario "choked" or something of the like, is being very naive. Or, they don't get it.

This is not a 20 year old "kid" so to speak who hasn't ridden the crazies and the cripples. We are talking about a very seasoned vet who at age 45 is riding better than ever. He is extremely well respected by his peers, trainers, and others who are in the game -- all over the country -- people who know a good jock better than the fans or media. This guy is a pro and he deserved to have the connections stick by him.

Eric

I've been a fan of Borel and a fan of Jon Court now that you mention him.

Nice story about Borel. One thing they can never take away from him is the fact that Street Sense/ Calvin Borel/ Carl Nafzger/James Tafel will always be be the very first ones to win both the BC Juvenile and the Ky Derby.

I wish them nothing but success.

Thanks

2nd ones I think some else did it before them.

Calvin has alot of miles on him to say the least. He is 40. And around the bush tracks around here, ummm lets say there has known to have a few "disagreements" over races, and I think that why his teeth are like that. It can get pretty rowdy down here in Cajun Country! :D

Very often around this board we here this jockey or that jockey cost the race, including the "ELITE" jockeys. How often do you here that about Borel or Court? Both have won a bunch of races but how often have you heard that there riding style or decisions , lost a winnable race?

I think that Calvin and Court are not the top elite jocks that everyone watches their every move, so maybe that is why. We always watch the Johnny V's, Kent D's but now I think that will change after this race for Calvin.

alright skippy...fess up.

what does your signature say??

He was the first to win both the BC Juvenile and Kentucky Derby but not the first named champion 2 yr old to win the Derby.

I guess the article says it all. The horse people down here all grew up that way. Wasnt really "amazing", or "crazy" or different to us. Heck I never went to school football games, dances or anything like that, we had horses to run and that was alot more fun than any of those things. My mother was the first woman in La. to have her QH trainers license, and I was raised at the tracks. The movie Caseys Shadow? about friends of ours. Randy Romeo was my first crush,,,he was such a looker. ;) Acadiana Downs was one of the more popular bush tracks, and Calvin rode quite a few there. Quarter horses, TB's all the same to the jocks.

Casey's Shadow is one of my fave movies...