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| Jockey Calvin Borel and Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird leave the track after a morning workout at Churchill Downs on Monday in preparation for Saturday's Belmont Stakes. | ||
"We're going to win it, no questions asked," Borel said Monday after working the Kentucky Derby champion and Preakness runner-up. And he's continuing to talk the talk.
"The race will fit him perfectly," he says. "He's not a horse who runs half a mile. He keeps going and keeps going. It's crazy."
Fans thought it was crazy when 50-1 underdog Mine That Bird, winless in two starts as a 3-year-old at New Mexico's Sunland Park, charged up the rail for Borel to win by 6 3/4 lengths and pull the second-biggest upset in Derby history.
They thought it was wild — and maybe a little crazy — when Borel left the Derby champ to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. She withstood Mine That Bird's huge late charge by a half length to become the first filly to win the black-eyed susans since Nellie Morse in 1924.
Now, no one really knows what to think as Borel, back on Mine That Bird while Rachel Alexandra waits to fight another day, attempts to become the first jockey to sweep the Triple Crown on two different horses.
"It's what I worked for. It's all I wanted in my life," says Borel, who started riding competitively at 8. "I never thought I would have to do it on different horses."
According to Allan Carter, historian at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Bill Shoemaker is the only other jockey to approach a personal Triple Crown on different mounts.
In 1959, Shoemaker took the Kentucky Derby with Tomy Lee, missed with runner-up Sword Dancer in the Preakness and won the Belmont on Sword Dancer.
As with any great accomplishment, conquering the 1½-mile Belmont won't be easy. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will start long shots Flying Private and Luv Gov in the field of 10, laughs off Borel's guarantee. "He's had a little too much caffeine lately," he says.
Charitable Man, who suffered his lone defeat when he ran seventh in the Blue Grass Stakes on Polytrack after an extended layoff, poses a serious threat. He is 2-for-2 at Belmont Park. His perfection extends to 3-for-3 on dirt.
"I wouldn't trade places with anyone," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin says.
Although Dunkirk stumbled in the Derby and finished 11th, the $3.7 million purchase may finally be ready to fulfill his vast promise. He showed his readiness by tearing through a four-furlong workout at Belmont Park in 47 1/5 seconds on May 18, fastest of 62 works at the distance that morning.
"If you look at his work tab, you will see a lot of bullets by his name," trainer Todd Pletcher says. "That's not really my style of training, but it shows how talented he is."
Fifth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Chocolate Candy can be a factor with his stalking style. Recent history shows that trainer Nick Zito, who pulled major upsets with Birdstone in 2004 and Da' Tara last year, can never be dismissed.
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