Business is booming for jockey Calvin Borel following 2nd Kentucky Derby win

Derby success has Borel in demand

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Calvin Borel’s first Kentucky Derby win aboard Street Sense three years ago brought the affable Cajun jockey instant fame, an audience with Queen Elizabeth II and a trip to the White House.

His second Derby triumph may have brought him something even more valuable: the label of “go-to” jockey for the sport’s leading trainers.

Borel’s ride aboard 50-1 long shot Mine That Bird last year cemented his spot among the game’s elite. Squeezing the tiny gelding through a seemingly impossible hole along the rail, Mine That Bird roared through the mud past Pioneerof the Nile to post one of the biggest upsets in Derby history.

It was typical Borel, who has spent the last 25 years scratching out a life while taking just about any mount that would come his way, regardless of the pedigree or the stakes.

Before Mine That Bird came along, Borel was pulling off miracles aboard the likes of 108-1 shot Rockamundo in the 1993 Arkansas Derby and 92-1 pipe dream Seek the Gold in the 2006 Stephen F. Foster Handicap.

“He’ll ride the hair off of anything,” WinStar Farm president Doug Cauthen said.

Now, though, “anything” doesn’t exactly mean “everything.”

Though Borel still has a fondness for long shots, these days there’s been a decided uptick in the quality of horses that come his way.

“The second Derby validated him,” Borel’s longtime agent Jerry Hissam said.

So did winning the Preakness, which Borel captured with Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra.

Though his shot at a “Calvin Crown” came up short when Mine That Bird finished third in the Belmont, Borel is no longer a folk hero, he’s a star.

These days Hissam’s phone is abuzz with calls from top trainers wondering if Borel is available.

His client will be busy Saturday, when Borel rides 15-1 shot Super Saver for Todd Pletcher in the Derby, the jockey’s first Triple Crown start for the Eclipse Award winner.

“I think Calvin is an exceptional rider anywhere and I think he’s maybe five lengths better at Churchill,” Pletcher said. “For whatever reason he’s got Churchill Downs figured out. He gets in a zone here and he’s an edge.”

It’s a heady compliment from a trainer who often turns to star jockey John Velazquez for some of his top mounts and has never put Borel on one of his more talented horses.

Yet he didn’t hesitate after Borel led Super Saver to an easy five-length win in the Kentucky Juvenile Cup at Churchill last fall with one of his patented rail-hugging rides.

“We know the horse likes the track, we know him and Calvin get along well and (Calvin) has shown he can win the big races,” Pletcher said. “With a guy like that you just kind of leg him up and wish him good luck and hopefully he gets the kind of trip he’s capable of getting on the horse.”

Borel and Super Saver will start from the fourth post position, a prime spot for the jockey nicknamed “Bo-rail” to get inside and do his thing.

“He’s willing to take risks, get through holes,” said Cauthen, whose farm owns Super Saver. “He just gets horses to run.”

It’s what he’s always done, though not everyone took notice, not ever after Borel won the Derby in 2007 aboard Street Sense, a ride he earned because of his longstanding relationship with trainer Carl Nafzger.

Sure, Borel went to the White House, dined with Queen Elizabeth and shook hands with Peyton Manning after his tearful career-defining victory.

Yet two days later he was back in the paddock at Churchill hoping on another high-priced entry.

The next spring he returned to the Derby on Denis of Cork, a 27-1 shot that he somehow pushed to a third-place finish.

Not that it captured the attention of the racing world. Last year Borel was looking for a ride Derby week before finding one on Mine That Bird, an afterthought heading into the race.

Mine That Bird was supposed to be just another field filler, yet Borel treated the gelding in just the same way he treated Rachel Alexandra the day before while leading her to a 20 1/4-length win in the Kentucky Oaks. Two minutes after breaking the gate in the Derby, Borel and his upstart mount entered Derby lore.

“Nothing phases him, that’s why he rides so well,” Hissam said. “He gives every horse a chance to win.”

Particularly at Churchill, where he is second all-time in victories behind Pat Day, most of them on horses of modest talent. Hissam estimates Borel’s average payoff during his time at Churchill Downs is between $12-20.

Good luck finding a Borel mount getting those kind of odds these days. He won five races on the opening day of Churchill’s spring meet last Saturday, with three of those wins coming aboard the favorite.

Still, there was one vintage Borel moment, when he helped Hurricane Ike to a mild upset of Eightyfiveinafifty in the Derby Trial for trainer John Sadler. Sadler’s instructions to Borel before the race? Have fun and do what you do.

“I said ‘You know more about this place than I do, so you do what you think is right,’” Sadler said. “I figured he’s the guy around here right now.”

Is he ever.