Borel will ride at Fair Grounds

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Veteran jockey Calvin Borel will ride this winter at Fair Grounds instead of Oaklawn Park, where he has been a leading rider since the early 1990's, agent Jerry Hissam said Friday at Keeneland.

Hissam said Borel is switching to Fair Grounds, the New Orleans track that begins a four-month meet Nov. 28, "because of the way our clientele has shifted. We've got a lot more business there."

Borel will ride the entire five-week fall meet at Churchill Downs, which runs through Nov. 30, before heading to Fair Grounds to begin riding Dec. 5.

Borel, 35, was the leading rider at Oaklawn in 1995 and 2001 and has perennially ranked in the top five jockeys there. He also has won titles at Churchill and Louisiana Downs.

Oaklawn begins its 54-day 2003 meet Jan. 24. For Hissam, it will be the first Oaklawn meet he has missed since 1968.