Calvin Borel, a three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey known as a fan favorite and colorful personality, informed agent Larry Melancon thi...
Calvin Borel, a three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey known as a fan favorite and colorful personality, informed agent Larry Melancon this week that he has retired from riding effective immediately.
Borel, 49, took Street Sense (2007), Mine That Bird (2009) and Super Saver (2010) to an unprecedented three victories in four years in Churchill Downs' premier race, just a trio of his 1,189 triumphs under the Twin Spires dating back more than 20 years.
The Hall of Famer has 5,146 wins in all, per Equibase, including seven this year from 79 mounts.
"He's been a very special individual in the history of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs," said track spokesman John Asher. "People loved Calvin way before he won that first Kentucky Derby. I think they respected his work ethic. He was out there every day, and they knew he was among the first people on the backside in the morning when his brother, Cecil, ran his stable there."
Borel's final graded stakes victory came aboard Moonshine Mullin, an upset winner of Churchill Downs' Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap in 2014. Appropriately Borel, who earned the nickname "Bo-rail" for his trips, guided Moonshine Mullin inside once clear in the $500,000 race.
Borel hired another former jockey, Melancon, as his agent last August after a 24-year run with Jerry Hissam ended with Hissam's retirement.
He most recently had the assignment on Cosmic Evolution, a filly that won Churchill's Debutante last summer and ran third last time in Oaklawn Park's Grade III Honeybee, a Kentucky Oaks prep. The Daily Racing Form reported Borel's retirement Wednesday after he didn't work the filly.
"My first thought when I heard the news: I'd say we're losing a great person out of the industry," Hissam said. "...I'm glad I made my decision, and I'm sure he's glad he made his decision now. He'll miss it, but then you get involved with family and home things. We've traveled and been on the road all our lives."
The Louisiana native won a number of riding titles in Kentucky, which he called home for much of his riding career, with the first at Ellis Park in 1995 and the final at Churchill in 2010.
Borel couldn't be reached for comment, and a reason wasn't given for his retirement. But he had ridden less lately, and last summer, a spill during morning training forced Borel to miss races during Churchill's spring meet. Borel returned to win the June 27 Debutante before taking the summer off to fully heal and spend time with his wife, Lisa, at their farm in Florida.
"I wish he wouldn't retire, but I'm glad he's retiring. I'm glad he's doing what he needs to do," said Carl Nafzger, who trained Borel's first Derby winner, Street Sense. "He's a great, great rider -- great horseman. He worked hard, and he loved it. He did what he loved.
"...He was Calvin Borel. He wasn't anybody else. He didn't try to be anybody else."
Asher remembers a standing ovation for Borel as he gleefully rode Street Sense to the winner's circle -- "Calvin was being Calvin" -- after the Derby. Borel also won a Breeders' Cup race at Churchill and took the Oaks in 2009 aboard Rachel Alexandra, a filly that went on to beat the boys for the first time in Saratoga's Grade I Woodward.
What made him a fan favorite?
"Did you ever hear him say 'no' to anybody?" Hissam asked. "That pretty much says it all about him. He always signed autographs. He was always courteous and loved the children."
Horse racing legend Calvin Borel is inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/horses/triple/derby/2016/03/30/report-kentucky-derby-winning-jockey-borel-retires/82418266/
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