Ellis Park Press Release: Retired Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel, whose two Ellis Park riding titles are one fewer than his Kentucky Derby triumphs, has been in Louisville the few days visiting friends and staying with trainer Buff Bradley.
Borel, whose 5,146 victories rank No. 27 all-time, retired suddenly in late March, telling his agent it was just time in a career that began in 1983 and included fracturing almost every bone in his body at one time or another. But Saturday morning at Churchill Downs, between saying hi to old friends and ponying horses for Bradley, Borel did not discount that he might ride races again some day.
“I’ve just been chilling, taking my time, relaxing,” he said. “Eating. I’m feeling good. Sometimes I want to come back and ride, sometimes I don’t. I’ve got to give it six months, relax, and see what I want to do. And I’ll go from there. I’m just mingling around here. Same thing I did back home (in his native Catahoula, La.). I was home like three months with the family. And I’ve got so many friends here, from the last 20, 30 years.”
Borel won riding titles at Ellis in 1995 and 2011. He won the Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense (2007), Mine That Bird (2009) and Super Saver (2010), the only jockey to win America’s most famous race three times in four years.
Being Borel, his relaxing includes working. In fact, Bradley put him on a tractor to mow paddocks at his Franklin County farm. Upon hearing this, trainer Ron Moquett tweeted: “Calvin Borel mowed Buff Bradley’s grass yesterday. Problem was only the INSIDE got cut. #bo-rail #3timeDerbywinninyardman #stillhardworker.”
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