Calvin H. Borel

A truly amazing race! The best race I have seen in 15 years, when Holy Bull held off Concern in a flying Travers stretch drive. But this was better.

She went so fast up front... we were so nervous she was going too fast! And as she was nearing the far turn, the other front runners started dropping like flies. Da' Tara was eased, Cool Coal Man was beaten by 20 lengths... and into the turn she was being chased by Past the Point... who she ended up dusting by 18 lenghts!!!

Then came the middle move horses. It's a Bird couldn't hang, but Bullsbay was in the right spot and Asiatic Boy made a bold move from behind... but he couldn't get within 10 lengths of her!

Down to the stretch, it was Bullsbay chasing and Macho Again flying... but Calvin goes to the whip and in the final 1/16th... Rachel finds another gear! Unbelievable!

In the end, the finish behind her was almost an exact inverse of the way the horses were at the half-mile.... showing how hot the pace was and how destructive it was to the other horses that raced near the lead.

1st Rachel Alexandra
8th Macho Again
6th Bullsbay
7th Asiatic Boy
5th It's a Bird
3rd Past the Point
4th Cool Coal Man
2nd Da' Tara

A truly amazing performance!

Unbelievable display of class by Rachel despite the midget of a ride by Borel. Why did he go to the whip repeatedly in the stretch when the race was over long before the wire?

Seems like a knucklehead move by Borel's agent to lose Mine That Bird. Yes, the Nafzger/Wilkes barn is Borel's meal ticket... and they gave him Street Sense and several others. But Warrior's Reward is no Derby winner, and you sort of have carte blanche understanding to drop other horses for the Derby winner... so you would think he could have gotten out of this committment.

Great Triple Crown recap... best part:

Call me old school, or worse, but I got a bigger kick out of watching Calvin being Calvin than Manny being Manny, Kobe being Kobe, LeBron being LeBron or . . . you get the picture.

I have to respect Einstein for all the times I tore up a ticket when I didn't think he could win. Runs on any surface and any track...it doesn't matter, he finds a way to win...except... in this race. Best Einstein will do is third. Researcher is much the best and improving with every race. Borel takes the mount. Won't get the respect he deserves because most of his wins are at Charlestown. Arson Squad and Asiatic Boy pose big threats. If I'm wrong, I'm sure I hear the line I heard before as I was tearing up tickets...Oh, you're a real Einstein, Mike!

Agree that Saratoga Cowboy received a bad ride by Amanda Casey. Moved way too early ala Calvin Borel in his last. Got his "workout" in so Morales move shows intent. Nice pick.

How many times do we have to go thru this... Borel should have learned from other jocks that suffered from not having Belmont experience. Remember Stewart Elliott's first ride in the Belmont... on Smarty Jones... that didn't go so well did it? But he too was a veteran jockey with 1,000's of wins that had ridden a terrific Derby and Preakness. Same with Desormeaux on Real Quiet.

Didn't you wince when Borel made that guarantee. Almost always the kiss of death.

I hope Mine That Bird finally has some respect now... with a better timed ride, we're talking about a totally different ballgame today.

Borel moved too soon and went too wide on Mine That Bird. Calvin Boo-rail... couldn't find the rail.

It was ironic that Desormeaux, who learned his lesson moving too soon on Real Quiet and got beat by Victory Gallop by a nose 11 years ago... showed the patience to get the win on Summer Bird, while Borel learned that same lesson of moving too soon today.