It Looks Like Calvin Borel’s Kentucky Derby Luck Has Run Out – No Roses This Year?

By Author: Lee Lane-Edgar
Total Articles: 365
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Could Calvin Borel snatch his fourth Kentucky Derby in just five years? That was a question we were asking before the Arkansas Derby but one which now appears moot, as he could only manage 9th aboard his main Derby mount, Elite Alex. He was beaten more than 15 lengths by upset winner Archarcharch and his horse just didn’t fire.
No horse in at least 20 years has ever won the Kentucky Derby coming from a prep race in which he finished anything worse than fourth, but even a fourth place finish would likely not give him enough in graded stakes earnings to qualify for a spot. Prior to the Arkansas Derby he was 34th on the list of graded earnings winners, and obviously did not accumulate any more after his out-of-the-money finish.
They say that things come in threes, and if so, then Calvin Borel’s Kentucky Derby luck may have run out this year, his only chance being if he can pick up another mount.

Why have the Derby gods been favoring Calvin Borel so much as of late? His 2007 win on Street Cry was perfectly reasonable as he was the favorite. His 2010 win on Super Saver was not a shock, being the second ...
... betting choice that day. But his 2009 six-length win on 50-1 long shot Mine That Bird defied all explanation, as there was simply nothing to suggest in the past performance of his mount even a hint of the ability needed to win. Somebody up there had to have been favoring him, but fortune is capricious and streaks of luck can go as easily as they come, just ask anyone who has ever spent any time betting the horses.

Perhaps the Kentucky Derby gods are punishing him this year for that scuffle in the winner’s circle last year at the Breeder’s Cup, for that look of murderous rage with which he confronted fellow jockey Javier Castellano. Or perhaps it was the effrontery with which he boldly claimed that he would win the Triple Crown aboard Super Saver last year that incurred their wrath.

In any case, he has had a remarkable streak of good luck with the biggest race of the year. Other great jockeys have won more Kentucky Derbys than Borel, but no one has ever won so many in so short a time frame. Eddie Arcaro, for example, has five under his belt, but did so over a span of 23 years. Bill Shoemaker has won four times spanning an even longer period of 31 years.