Cool it, Calvin

Cool Jerk (The Capitols, 1966)

OK Calvin Borel, enough is enough. The jig is up.
You and your agent, Jerry Hissam _ and we used to like you guys_ have taken this too far. Perhaps you think you're too famous these days, you Mr. Stay-in-Manhattan all Belmont week and then climbing aboard Mine That Bird, making an early move and finishing third in the Belmont Stakes.
It's fine to be confident and cocky. Heck, you earned it after so many years of riding the rails before hitting it big in the 2007 Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense. But what the hell are you doing now?
You were desperate for a Derby ride this year, and got hooked up with Mine That Bird and won the dang thing at 50-1. Then you ditched him for a filly and beat your own Derby winner in the Preakness with Rachel Alexandra. Ain't it grand to be you -- going for your own personal Triple Crown?
And then you diss Belmont Park, refuse to ride one race over the course in the week leading up to the Belmont and what happens? You move early, and the Bird can't hold off Summer Bird in the stretch.
So now you are waffling again, and thank goodness Mine That Bird's trainer Chip Woolley made his move now -- Hey Calvin, you're outta here if you don't commit to my gelding through the Breeders' Cup ... Well, Hissam was being hush and refusing to commit to anything other than to Warrior's Reward _ a 3-year-old with promise who runs in the Dwyer at Belmont on Saturday and likely the Jim Dandy on Aug. 1. Oops! That's the same day you're supposed to ride Mine That Bird in the West Virginia Derby, and then comes the Travers and then the Breeders' Cup Classic. So you won't commit to the horse you won the Derby on? You want to ride for Ian Wilkes, who took over for the man who put you on Street Sense (Carl Nafzger)?
Good for you. Your choice. And now you won't ride the Derby winner again.
What you tried to do -- keep Woolley hanging on _ is not popular in this corner, and not good for the sport .. and Calvin, you know it. Yes, it's all about the money and heaven knows you made a ton of it aboard Mine That Bird, not to mention winning 7 in a row aboard Rachel Alexandra. So you made your choice by refusing to make a commitment. You made a commitment to Rachel. Why not Mine That Bird? A horse that will be running long after Rachel is sent to the farm? You guys may know more about this then this corner, but what is coming out in the media is not too pretty. Here's hoping Woolley & Co. come up with a rider that will bring their horse back to the winner's circle -- in West Virginia, New York and California.

WayAfterThoughts on the Belmont

WELL DONE OR TOASTED?:

WELL DONE

TIM ICE: May the horses come into your barn. A cool, quiet and intense young man, Mr. Ice arrived at Belmont Park at 34 years of age _ and left two weeks later at 35 after winning the Belmont Stakes with Summer Bird. He did a masterful training job _ putting blinkers on (he saw that his Bird wasn't focused in the stretch at the Derby, although 6th place wasn't bad for a fourth career start) and bringing him here for nearly two weeks to become familiar with the track.
Payoff should be big time for Mr. Ice, who already has a few interested owners knocking on his barn door (Hey, Rick Porter, ya listening?). Looks like Mr. Ice -- an Ohio boy currently based at Louisiana Downs -- could get to like the New York racing scene. Betting he'll spend his summer at Saratoga, with Summer Bird being pointed to the Jim Dandy on Aug. 1 and the Travers on Aug. 29. Welcome to New York.

MINE THAT BIRD & CO: Just love this little gelding and his crew of cowpokes from the Land of Enchantment; Broken leg trainer Chip Woolley (12 pins and a metal plate from knee to ankle in right leg), racing manager Kelly Denninton and owners Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach showed racing nogoodnicks how to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime moment and share it with others.
Ol' Chipper enjoyed his New York experience, and look for his Bird to resurface in Saratoga as well. Mine That Bird went 1-2-3 in the Derby, Preakness and Belmont and earned over $1.5 million for his connections! And this gelding will keep on going!

KENT DESORMEAUX: What can we say Kent? You deserved it.
Worst beat ever in the 1998 Belmont aboard Derby-Preakness winner Real Quiet (2nd by a nose); and biggest disappointment ever last year with Derby-Preakness winner Big Brown (last after being pulled up). You rode a perfect race, finally, and we think you have this one figured out.



TOASTED

CALVIN BOREL: Calvin, your new marketing/sponsor guy, gave you bad advice. Why in the wide wide world of jockey sense would you spend a week in Manhattan, ignore the racetrack, show up on Letterman, at MSG, the stock exchange, etc., etc., and expect to make good your guarantee of victory?
OK, so Joe Namath can party all night and lead the Jets to a Super Bowl win over the Colts, but Calvin, you lost to the Colts in this one. Your rail ride in the Derby was glorious, your effort in the Belmont was godawful.



MIKE SMITH: Short story shorter, Mikey boy coulda been aboard Mine That Bird in the Belmont, but even before all the histrionics surrounding Borel/Rachel Alexandra/Mine That Bird he begged off due to loyalty to owners Jerry and Ann Moss and trainer John Shirreffs. Instead of riding in the Belmont, Mikey hopped on Madeo for the Charlie Whittingham Memorial Handicap at Hollywood and finished fourth. Hmm. Pass up a Belmont in favor of a Whittinghan. Wait 'til next year!

JESS JACKSON: Just because I'm not certain what his motives are with the filly. Hooray for winning the Preakness, but something just doesn't seem right about the way you shelled out however many millions to buy Rachel Alexandra in a plan to `revitalize'' the sport.
People were all over Baffert for buying a Derby winner (and Preakness winner as well)a few weeks before the race, but you go out and buy a Preakness winner 9 days before? Why didn't you speak up before the Oaks? And buy her then and run her in the Derby? She'd won four stakes in a row to that point. And the owners said they wouldn't run her against the boys.

Garden Party for Horse Racing

It was a good day for horse racing -- for a change. The New York Racing Association put together a luncheon/news conference at Madison Square Garden today, promoting the not-so-on-the-radar Belmont Stakes on Saturday. Of course, Calvin ``we're gonna win'' Borel was the center of attention. Everywhere he walked at the Garden's Bar & Grill, microphones, notepads, TV cameras, bloggers and tweeters followed. All he did was say what he said yesterday: He will win the Belmont aboard Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to become the first jockey to capture the Triple Crown on different horses. He rode Rachel Alexandra to victory over Mine That Bird in the Preakness. He says he's in a dream and riding it out, and that he wants to win this one for Chip -- the Bird's trainer Chip Woolley, who stuck with him even after he took over the gelding for the filly. Lots of other racing types were there as well - the Bird's New Mexico owner-trainer trio of Mark Allen, Leonard Blach and Woolley; trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and jockey Alan Garcia _ Kiaran sends out Charitable Man and Garcia rides him looking for his second Belmont win in a row. McLaughlin was pretty funny, say there's no need to run the race since Calvin guaranteed a victory, but then added this about his horse: His father was a Belmont winner (Lemon Drop Kid), he's 2-for-2 at Belmont, 3-for-3 on dirt and need I say more? Johnny V, who will ride Dunkirk, told the riders in attendance not to let Calvin on the rail ... Borel added that he's glad Rachel Alexandra is not running because, he said, she needs a rest.

And to kick off the festivities, NYRA CEO Charley Hayward made his opening remarks short and to the point regarding synthetic surfaces: He said the races Saturday will be on the turf and on the dirt and they are going to stay that way. Why he decided to throw out that line at this newser is questionable, but it's a clear statement that synthetics are not in NYRA's future (applause, please).