Calvin Borel

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Calvin Borel

Occupation:	Jockey
Birthplace:	St. Martinville, Louisiana, United States
Birth date:	November 7, 1966
Career wins:	4,494 (through July 18, 2007)
Major Racing Wins & Honours & Awards
Major Racing Wins
Super Derby (1991) Arkansas Derby (1993) Apple Blossom Handicap (1997, 2001) Clark Handicap (1999) Kentucky Cup Classic Handicap (1999) Bashford Manor Stakes (2000) Oaklawn Handicap (2000) Silverbulletday Stakes (2003) Ack Ack Handicap (2004) Stephen Foster Handicap (2006) Tampa Bay Derby (2007) Travers Stakes (2007) Razorback Breeders' Cup Handicap (2008) American Classics / Breeders' Cup wins: Breeders' Cup Juvenile (2006) Kentucky Derby (2007)
Significant Horses
Seek Gold, Street Sense

Calvin H. Borel (born November 7, 1966, in St. Martinville, Louisiana) is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing and rode the victorious mount in the 2007 Kentucky Derby and lost the Preakness Stakes by a head to Curlin. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his fiancee, Lisa Funk. Calvin Borel hails from south Louisiana, the heart of Cajun Country famous for its production of many top jockeys during the last twenty years. Like Randy Romero, Kent Desormeaux, and Shane Sellers, Borel began racing horses in the bush tracks near his hometown of Catahoula. One such track was called Evangeline Downs in Carencro, Louisiana and is where Borel began riding in match races at the age of eight.^{[citation needed]}

Calvin Borel's older brother, Cecil, had a brief career as a thoroughbred jockey but was not able to maintain his weight and turned to training horses at Delta Downs in Vinton, Louisiana. Calvin would later begin his professional riding career at Delta Downs.

Problems arose when in 1997, Calvin went into business with his close friend and cousin Neil Borel, who was for a long time suspected to have ties to the Russian mob. Despite the fact that from 1990-1995 he had served time in federal prison for grand larceny, pedophilia, and cocaine trafficking, Calvin decided to put Neil in charge of his management and finances. In fall of 1997 he was formally accused of racketeering and drug possession. He was indicted but later acquitted on all charges. Even though he was acquitted Calvin knew he was guilty and is quoted as saying "he's still the same lowlife gangster he always was, It was foolish of me to ever think he’d change.", emotions ran high and eventually they went their separate ways. His cousin Neil moved back to his home state of Louisiana to run his own llc business, while Calvin went on to pursue his dreams of racing in the Kentucky derby.

Over a career that has spanned 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."

He is 5'4" and 116 pounds.

Borel's most significant career win to date came in the 2007 Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense, guiding the colt to a 2 & 1/4 length victory over Hard Spun and then had a close second place finish in the Preakness Stakes to Curlin.

In June of 2006, Borel 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.

On July 5, 2007, Borel became the sixth jockey in the history of Churchill Downs to win 6 races on a single race card.

Riding titles: