Calvin Borel Mania: Go, Boo, Go!

Video interview with Calvin Borel, courtesy ESPN, conducted after The 2009 Preakness Stakes.

This year, we’ve got one athlete who might possibly win all three races of the American Triple Crown. Except he’s got two legs instead of four.

If he wins, he should get some title for that. So what’s it called when a jockey wins the Triple Crown races on two different horses? A hat trick?

But I’ve got a treat for you from some other bloggers.  Some great feature stories about about Calvin Borel.

The man in question

Calvin Borel went from the hardscrabble tracks of “Looziana” to dinner at the White House with the President and the Queen of England, all thanks to a rocket ship named Street Sense who took him into the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle.

Two years later, he made an exuberant return to claim more roses with 50-1 shot Mine That Bird.

Two weeks later, he took the Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra to the winner’s circle at the Preakness.

More recently, during Belmont Week, he’s made the rounds of the late-night talk shows. He’s been the toast of New York and even rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Borel-mania is in full swing, even in the Wall Street Journal.

Still, Calvin is all about the horses, according to his fiancee Lisa Funk as reported by Bob Fortus of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Borel had never heard of Leno and Letterman, nor most of the celebrities he’s met because he’s so focused in his job and his horses.

Borel is a savvy strategist with supreme self-confidence and nerves of steel. Then, he erupts like microwave popcorn when he wins The Big One.

So let’s learn a little more about him. You’re gonna like this. Here are some treats.

One of my favorite turf writers is former Lexington Herald-Leader reporter Maryjean Wall. She’s still in Kentucky and has a blog, among her other current endeavors.

BTW, her blog is like a Best Kept Secret blog. If you follow thoroughbred racing, you might know about it. If you don’t follow The Game, you’re in for a treat.

Maryjean was on the rail for a ground-level view of Calvin’s victory pass toward the winner’s circle on Derby Day. Check out the video Maryjean shot of Calvin and Mine That Bird.

Maryjean met Borel when he was a boy already riding — and winning — races when he was 14.

Here’s Maryjean’s story about young Calvin after she’d followed him at the track. Complete with photos.

And here’s a little blast from the recent past. It’s a feature ESPN did about Borel going into the 2007 Preakness with Street Sense. The story also explains the title of this post. Enjoy.

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Tags: 2009 Belmont Stakes, Belmont Stakes, Calvin Borel, Maryjean Wall, Mine That Bird