Borel taking a summer vacation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Calvin Borel always takes every December off, but this year, he’s taking most of the summer off – and even more time if he feels like it.

Circumstances are changing in the life and career of the 48-year-old jockey, whose three Kentucky Derby victories are the most compelling reasons he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in August 2013 and has achieved folk-hero status among thousands of racing fans.

“After this meet ends [June 27], I’m just going to chill for a while, take some time to think about things,” Borel said between races Thursday evening at Churchill Downs. “No, no, I’m not retiring. I’m just taking some down time.”

Borel and his wife, Lisa, recently sold their Louisville house. Lisa has been heavily involved for years with show horses and hunter-jumpers, and the couple has moved their permanent residence to a six-acre farm in central Florida so that she can be closer to the West Palm Beach area where those equine activities thrive. In recent winters, the couple has been apart, with Calvin riding at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas and Lisa tending to her horses in Florida.

“We’re about an hour south of Ocala and almost three hours north of Gulfstream Park,” Borel said.

In summers past, Borel mostly has ridden at Ellis Park in western Kentucky, although he rode at Saratoga for three years (2007-09-10) at the height of his success. Besides being with his wife, he also intends to spend time with his older brother, Cecil, whose wife, Debbie, died Jan. 1 following an illness. Cecil, some 13 years older, always has been a close confidant to his more famous brother.

“This has been very tough on him,” Calvin Borel said.

After 35 years as a trainer, Cecil Borel abruptly disbanded his Churchill-based stable last summer to be at his wife’s side. He is currently living in St. Martin Parish in a rural area of southern Louisiana where the family has its roots.

“Things have changed for me, yes,” Calvin Borel said. “I always loved coming to the barn early in the morning to be around my brother. I always put more into it. Now he’s hurting and I’ve got to see what I can do for him.”

After 5,124 wins and nearly $126 million in mount earnings during a riding career that began in 1983, Calvin Borel is financially secure. Having forged a reputation as one of the most earnest and hard-working jockeys in the business, he began competing on a circuit consisting mostly of Oaklawn and Kentucky tracks some 20 years ago, taking only December as vacation.

His peak years came in 2007, when he won his first Derby with Street Sense and his mount earnings exceeded $10 million, and 2009, when Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird helped push his purse earnings past $9.2 million.

However, relative to those huge years, business has slowed considerably in recent seasons. In 2013, Borel rode just 43 winners, his lowest total ever. He won 65 races in 2014, but so far this year, he has just 17 wins.

Borel said after the spring meet ends he will not be accepting weekend stakes engagements for the foreseeable future and that he is unsure exactly when he will return to the saddle, although he acknowledged the September meet at Churchill as a logical time to return.

“I’m just going to take life as it comes,” he said.

◗ Jockeys Ricardo Santana Jr. and Abel Lezcano have been fined $500 each by the Churchill stewards after an altercation in the paddock runway while walking back from a race June 5. The incident took place in front of fans, which explains the hefty fines, said chief steward Barbara Borden.