Calvin Borel Biography

Jockey

Calvin Borel is the veteran Louisiana jockey who won the Kentucky Derby in 2007 and 2009. Borel began riding in local races at age eight. He dropped out of school after the eighth grade and began working with horses in earnest, riding on Louisiana tracks and then all over the south. He has been quoted as saying, "All I ever wanted to be was a jockey. A lot of kids make plans to be firemen, cowboys or astronauts, but I knew by eight that I wanted to ride races." By the year 2005, after three decades of racing, Borel had ridden over 4000 winners and was one of the top jockeys in America. His 2007 Kentucky Derby win aboard Street Sense made Borel a celebrity. Days later he was invited to a dinner at the White House honoring Queen Elizabeth II, who had attended the Derby in person. In 2009 he again won the Kentucky Derby, this time aboard the 50-1 long shot Mine That Bird. In the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, Borel switched to the filly Rachel Alexander, who then beat Mine That Bird by 3/4 of a length.

Extra credit: Borel is 5/5" tall and weighs 110 pounds, according to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association... His brother, Cecil Borel, is a horse trainer... Calvin Borel is known as "Bo-rail" for his favored tactic of keeping horses on a tight line close to the inside rail... His longtime fiancee is Lisa Funk.

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