Even with all of Calvin Borel's faults...

[toussaud]

and he has them.. the Fleur de Lis stakes showed why I would ake hm in a heartbeat over any jockey in the country.

he.. literarly... bogarded his way through the rail. there was no hole. there was no one drifting off. in fact it looked like they were trying to shut him off.to say thre was some bumping is a understement.

Not only does he get through the rail eventually but then has to battle the horse that was trying to block him on the rail and holds on to win by a head.

No other jockey in the country wins that race. No one would have had the ball to literarly create a hole the way he did.

[LottaKash]

Calvin surely does have the "Cajones", I'd say..........:jump:

best,

[strapper]

It's Calvin's World and we're just living in it this year.....maybe not the greatest in the annals of racing but nobody hustles harder. He's racing's Mr Hustle w/o the demons of a Pete Rose.

[the little guy]

His ride in the 11th at Churchill was a real hoot.

[cj]

His ride in the 11th at Churchill was a real hoot.

For whatever reason, he really sucks on turf...which seems odd for guy that likes to come on late.

[the little guy]

For whatever reason, he really sucks on turf...which seems odd for guy that likes to come on late.


He's not too good on the dirt either. He took an unnecessary chance with Miss Isella who was the 8:5 favorite. One could think that he got caught up in his supposed legend and insisted on attaching himself to the rail in what could have been a very unfortunate situation.

[DanG]

He’s ridden this way for as long as I can remember.

For all his recent accolades (and I think he is GREAT for our game) if you played certain OP meets and tight turf courses in general he can send your blood pressure into the stratosphere.

[DeanT]

I agree with that.

[toussaud]

He's not too good on the dirt either. He took an unnecessary chance with Miss Isella who was the 8:5 favorite. One could think that he got caught up in his supposed legend and insisted on attaching himself to the rail in what could have been a very unfortunate situation.

how can it be an unnecssary risk and he won by less than half a length? had he went outside, and he wold have had to swoop horses to do so, he would have lost.

[NTamm1215]

and he has them.. the Fleur de Lis stakes showed why I would ake hm in a heartbeat over any jockey in the country.

he.. literarly... bogarded his way through the rail. there was no hole. there was no one drifting off. in fact it looked like they were trying to shut him off.to say thre was some bumping is a understement.

Not only does he get through the rail eventually but then has to battle the horse that was trying to block him on the rail and holds on to win by a head.

No other jockey in the country wins that race. No one would have had the ball to literarly create a hole the way he did.

I'm pretty sure Dominguez, Gomez, Bejarano, or Garcia would ride the rail like that, Rosario might even try it.

NT

[tholl]

I don't think its good. Calvin keeps doing that, making holes that are not there, someones going to put him over the rail. Nearly happened today. I think some of the other jocks are tired of it.

[slew101]

Having bet Miss Isella a bunch, I've watched her closely. He might have been under instructions to keep her on the rail. She's won 3 straight at CD coming up the fence, all in really game efforts. In between, she went wide at Gulfstream and Keeneland and finished off the board.

[Bettowin]

I love the way he rides and he deserves the attention. Keep him in the spotlight until the 2010 Oaklawn meet and his horses that have no shot will be very overbet, right?

If I remember right closers have a hard time early in the Oaklawn meet.

[FenceBored]

I just watched the replay and looked at the chart. He had room if everyone stays in their own lane. The :2: Distinctive Dixie raced the whole way round leaving a hole on the rail. As they turned into the stretch Calvin starts Miss Isella through that hole. It's after Jesus becomes aware of Calvin already in the hole that Distinctive Dixie comes over and bumps Miss Isella.

From the chart: "DISTINCTIVE DIXIE set the pace just off the inside, was collared between horses entering the stretch, came in a bit bumping MISS ISELLA near the three-sixteenths pole..."

Maybe Distinctive Dixie just lugged in, but if either jockey made that a dangerous situation it was Jesus Castanon.

Remarkably similar to what Robbie did with One Caroline on Oaks Day.

[slewis]

His girlfriend came over to us at the Preakness and told us she bet Musket Man in the derby... she asked us not to let that get back to Calvin...


Hope he's not a fan of Pace Advantage.....

BTW.... he's a mediocre jock.... and that's giving him the BOTD.

[DanG]

What Calvin doesn’t get enough credit for is how accessible to the media he has been during this run. In sharp contrast to a Barcley Tagg TC campaign when a manhole cover has more media savvy.

Also; his genuine emotion after his major wins plays extremely well to our dwindling national audience.

[Pace Cap'n]

Plus, he speaks English. Well, sort of. :)

[joanied]

I just watched the replay and looked at the chart. He had room if everyone stays in their own lane. The :2: Distinctive Dixie raced the whole way round leaving a hole on the rail. As they turned into the stretch Calvin starts Miss Isella through that hole. It's after Jesus becomes aware of Calvin already in the hole that Distinctive Dixie comes over and bumps Miss Isella.

From the chart: "DISTINCTIVE DIXIE set the pace just off the inside, was collared between horses entering the stretch, came in a bit bumping MISS ISELLA near the three-sixteenths pole..."

Maybe Distinctive Dixie just lugged in, but if either jockey made that a dangerous situation it was Jesus Castanon.

Remarkably similar to what Robbie did with One Caroline on Oaks Day.

:ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: :ThmbUp: perfect post...fencebored...you nailed it:jump:

I also gotta agree with you, Dan G... for as long as Calvin stays in the 'spotlight'...he's great for our sport...and his antics after a win are exactly what the 'casual' fan needs to see...they need to be aware of how jockeys FEEL about racing and the horses they ride...and Calvin's emotional antics are a benefit to racing (although, sometimes he screws up when looking behind him too many times:) )...Mike Smith is good with that stuff too...I love watching him with his mounts...always stroking their necks, playing with their manes...that is the stuff that draws folks in.

[DrugS]

BTW.... he's a mediocre jock.... and that's giving him the BOTD.

That reminds me of when I was a kid growing up and the only baseball games we'd get are the Cubs on WGN.

A guy could hit .320 with 30 dingers a year drive in 120 RBI's - and if he didn't play well in his games on tv against the Cubs my brother would insist he stinks.

A guy could hit .248 with 10 HR's and bat down in the lineup - and if he just so happened to play his best ball against the Cubs my brother would insist he's excellent.

What's crazy is that my bro wasn't your typical New Yorker. In fact, he never visited NYC before ... so it's really strange how he had the ways of those people.

Borel actually had 6 consecutive profitable years riding two-turn dirt races at Churcill Downs from '95 to '00.

Over that span he was a combined 127-for-620 (20.5%) $2.64 ROI


Here's his record in two-turn dirt routes at Churchill since 2006.

2006: 23-for-67 (34%) $7.22 ROI

2007: 15-for-70 (21%) $3.73 ROI

2008: 17-for-69 (24%) $2.22 ROI

2009: 12-for-29 (41%) $7.55 ROI

Combined: 67-for-235 (29% wins) $4.75 ROI

Record in Graded Stakes over span: 12-for-23 (52%) $19.92 ROI


Those aren't the numbers of a mediocre jock getting the BOTD.

[the little guy]

What Calvin doesn’t get enough credit for is how accessible to the media he has been during this run. In sharp contrast to a Barcley Tagg TC campaign when a manhole cover has more media savvy.

Also; his genuine emotion after his major wins plays extremely well to our dwindling national audience.


That's a little unfair. Many trainers and riders are accessible, and entertaining, and using Barclay as the example, considering he is more the exception, may not be fair.

[DeanT]

Plus, he speaks English. Well, sort of. :)

:D

DrugS,

When I play CD, I watch what Calvin does and then I know what the bias is. He is one sharp CD rider (imo).

[DrugS]

He seems to have some big edge there somehow.

[Robert Fischer]

Borel has a great sense of timing. When he is comfortable he will not only show a sense of timing, but he is one of the few who will anticipate the pace and not be afraid to take an exaggerated approach at exploiting it. He's also one of the ones you have to keep track of the horses he gets on in the morning. There are a handful of jocks who can condition a response in a horse in the morning.

[DanG]

That's a little unfair. Many trainers and riders are accessible, and entertaining, and using Barclay as the example, considering he is more the exception, may not be fair.
It was easily as fair as… TLG~ He's not too good on the dirt either.” and arguably far more true.

[toussaud]

calvi is the only jockey I know that can make a highlight reel with his riding. not with a spectular horse drawing off.. but just with everyday riding. that was a highlight reel race as was the derby.

[joanied]

calvi is the only jockey I know that can make a highlight reel with his riding. not with a spectular horse drawing off.. but just with everyday riding. that was a highlight reel race as was the derby.

:ThmbUp: