Calvin H. Borel (born November 7, 1966) is an American jockey in

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

and rode the victorious mount in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, the 2009 Kentucky Derby and the

2010 Kentucky Derby The 2010 Kentucky Derby was the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 1, 2010, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The post time was EDT ( UTC). The stakes of the race were US$2,185,200 ...

. His 2009 Derby win with Mine That Bird was the third biggest upset in Derby history, (after Donerail and Rich Strike), and Borel's winning margin of lengths was the greatest in Derby history since

Assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...

won by 8 lengths in 1946. On May 1, 2009, Borel won the Kentucky Oaks aboard Rachel Alexandra, only the second time since 1993 that a jockey has won the Oaks-Derby combo, and just the seventh time overall a jockey has accomplished this feat in the same year. On May 16, 2009, Borel won the 2009

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs ...

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...

with thoroughbred filly Rachel Alexandra. In doing so, Borel became the first jockey to win the first two jewels of the Triple Crown on different mounts. Borel's nickname is "Bo'rail'" due to his penchant for riding close to the rail to save ground.

Life and career

Calvin Borel hails from south

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

: the heart of

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana. While Cajuns are usually described as ...

Country and famous for having produced a number of top jockeys, such as Randy Romero, Kent Desormeaux, Eddie Delahoussaye and

Shane Sellers Shane Jude Sellers (born September 24, 1966 in Erath, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. At age eleven, he began working around horses and in 1983 rode his first winner at Evangeline Downs. Sellers won several nationa ...

. Borel began racing horses in the bush tracks near his hometown of Catahoula and started riding in match races at the age of eight. He is known for his Cajun accent and bubbly and emotional personality, both of which were on full display during his post-victory interview after all three of his Kentucky Derby wins. Borel's older brother, Cecil, had a brief career as a thoroughbred jockey but was not able to maintain his weight. He turned to training horses at Delta Downs in

Vinton, Louisiana Vinton is a town in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,400 in 2020. It is part of the Lake Charles metropolitan statistical area. History The Old Spanish Trail, which was neither old nor Spanish, wandered north and ...

. Calvin began his professional riding career at Delta Downs. Over a career spanning 25 years, Borel has become known for his tireless work ethic as well as an ability to slip up the rail to save ground. His colleagues and racing fans therefore frequently refer to him as "Calvin Bo-rail". Borel is and . He lives in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

. His riding career began to surge in June 2006 when he won the $750,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs with 91–1 longshot Seek Gold, getting up in the final stride to win by a nose over Perfect Drift and paying $185.40 to win. That year was his big break when he won his first

Breeders' Cup The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred racing, Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was ...

on Street Sense in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Borel then won the 2007

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

aboard Street Sense, guiding the colt to a length victory over Hard Spun. He next had a close second-place finish aboard Street Sense in the Preakness Stakes to

Curlin Curlin (foaled March 25, 2004, in Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the American Horse of the Year in both 2007 and 2008. He retired in 2008 as the highest North American money earner with over US$10.5 million accumu ...

. On July 5, 2007, Borel became the sixth jockey in the history of Churchill Downs to win six races on a single race card. With his victory in the July 5, 2008

Bashford Manor Stakes The Bashford Manor Stakes is a six furlong sprint for two-year-old thoroughbred horses run each year toward the end of the Spring meet at Churchill Downs. It is a Listed race on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $100,000, (plus $7,500 add ...

, he became the thirty-fourth jockey in

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

Thoroughbred racing history to win 4,500 races. May 2, 2009, saw Borel win the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird, a 50–1 long shot, a day after winning the Kentucky Oaks aboard favorite Rachel Alexandra. It was only the second time since 1993 that a jockey has won the Oaks-Derby combo, and he was just the seventh jockey overall to accomplish this feat in the same year. On May 16, 2009, Borel won the Preakness Stakes on Rachel Alexandra (after that horse was sold following the Derby). This accomplishment marked the first time that a jockey won the first two legs of the Triple Crown on different horses, and Borel, with a win in the Belmont, could become the first Triple Crown winner since

Steve Cauthen Steve Cauthen (born May 1, 1960) is a retired American jockey. In 1977 he became the first jockey to win over $6 million in a year working with agent Lenny Goodman, and in 1978 he became the youngest jockey to win the U. S ...

accomplished it in 1978 on Affirmed. A win would have made him only the second individual to win the Triple Crown by sweeping the races with different horses ( D. Wayne Lukas, a trainer, also did so in 1995). However, on June 6, 2009, Borel finished third on Mine That Bird in the Belmont Stakes, failing to accomplish a jockey Triple Crown. On June 27, 2009, he guided Rachel Alexandra to a victory in the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park, setting a new stakes record, the only horse to break a record held by the great filly Ruffian. Borel then rode her to a six-length victory over Belmont Stakes winner

Summer Bird Summer Bird (April 7, 2006 – December 23, 2013) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse, son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone. He was bred by retired cardiologist Kalarikkal Jayaraman and his wife, retired pathologist Vilasini ...

in the

Haskell Invitational The Haskell Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on the dirt held annually in July at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. The event is a signature event at Monmouth ...

. On September 5 of the same year, he rode Rachel Alexandra to a historic victory in the Woodward Stakes. It was the first time a filly of any age had won that storied race. Borel was named the winner of the 2010

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduc ...

. On May 1, 2010, he rode Super Saver to win his 3rd Kentucky Derby in a 4-year span, the first jockey ever to do so. After winning the race, Borel promised he would win the Triple Crown in 2010 but he lost the Preakness. On June 4, 2010, Borel became only the second jockey to win 1,000 career races at Churchill Downs, joining Hall of Famer Pat Day. On March 7, 2013, Borel earned his 5,000th victory at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas while riding Hezunusual in the 6th race. He dedicated the win to his agent of over 20 years, Jerry Hissam who retired that year due to chronic pancreas issues after undergoing gall bladder surgery. Borel is the 26th North American jockey to reach 5000 victories. Borel was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and to the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

in 2013. Borel played himself in the 2014 feature film ''

50 to 1 ''50 to 1'' is a 2014 American drama film based on the true story of Mine That Bird, an undersized thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2009 Kentucky Derby in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the race. The film received a limited release ...

'', about Mine that Bird's 2009 Kentucky Derby win. On March 30, 2016, Borel announced he would be retiring from horse racing. However, on August 15, he came out of retirement.

Legal issues

On August 20, 2011, Borel was arrested in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

for allegedly driving while intoxicated. On August 26, 2019, Borel was arrested in

Corydon, Indiana Corydon is a town in Harrison Township, Harrison County, Indiana. Located north of the Ohio River in the extreme southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana, it is the seat of government for Harrison County. Corydon was founded in 1808 and serv ...

for allegedly driving while intoxicated after police saw him driving the wrong way on a street.

Riding titles

Delta Downs Delta Downs Racetrack, Casino and Hotel is an American thoroughbred and quarter horse racetrack in Calcasieu Parish, near Vinton, Louisiana in the southwest portion of the state. The facility is owned by Boyd Gaming. History The track opened i ...

(1985, 1986, 1987) * Louisiana Downs (1991, 1992, 1994) *

Oaklawn Park Oaklawn Plantation may refer to: * Oaklawn (Huntsville, Alabama), listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) * Oaklawn Plantation (Leon County, Florida) * Oaklawn Plantation (Natchez, Louisiana), listed on the NRHP *Oaklawn Manor ...

(1995, 2001) * Ellis Park (1995, 2011) *

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was ...

Fall meet (1999, 2006, 2009), Spring meet (2010) * Turfway Park (2000) * Kentucky Downs (2005)

Year-end charts

References

External links

Calvin Borel's Derby win featured inside and on the cover of Stride Magazine

Athlete Chat: Calvin Borel Interview after 2009 Kentucky Derby

Calvin Borel profile at the NTRA

Calvin Borel is interviewed about his Career, Childhood, and 2009 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks wins

Equibase.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borel, Calvin American jockeys United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees Cajun jockeys People from St. Martinville, Louisiana 1966 births Living people Jockeys from Louisville, Kentucky