[The Indomitable DrugS]

The story behind the story of the 2007 Kentucky Derby.

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
May 9, 2007

STREET SENSE may have been a clear-cut winner of America's most famous race on Saturday May 5, but he was also the beneficiary of good fortune rarely seen in a race of such magnitude.

In the Kentucky Derby's 20-horse field—which is much larger than any other American race— Street Sense gained ground effortlessly from 19th to 3rd position during the middle stages of the ten-furlong event while jockey Calvin Borel steered him along a vacant inner rail path, a path that even a Rolls Royce could have gone through.

Borel, whose nickname around the racetrack is Calvin Bo-Rail, is a certifiable rail runner. Once out of the starting gate, Mr. Bo-Rail's first instinct is quite like his second and third: angle inside, take possession of the rail and ride the shortest distance to the finish line whenever that is remotely possible.

By way of example, Borel used his persistent rail-riding tactics to win the 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Churchill Downs by 10 lengths last November. More recently, he employed an identical riding strategy to help Street Sense win the $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3) in his 2007 debut—skimming the rail around the final turn through a nail-biting stretch drive, narrowly defeating the wide-running ANY GIVEN SATURDAY.

So, let's be honest about this. Street Sense was a beautifully prepared Thoroughbred who looked strong enough to have won the 2007 Kentucky Derby without being so fortunate. But, before we dismiss any other outcome, we should realize that front-running HARD SPUN ran a dynamite race and racing has a way of making fools of people who assume the outcome is as obvious as it may have seemed on first view.

Winning horseplayers know from bitter experience that the racetrack game is a matter of trips and mistakes as much as pure ability and superior conditioning.

Street Sense didn't need any gifts. He had already demonstrated that he was the horse to beat in this Derby and had expressed his affinity for the Churchill Downs' racing surface with his Breeders' Cup Juvenile romp. Yet, in an overcrowded 20-horse field, with a jockey known by his peers for his penchant to save precious ground on tight-turning, relatively narrow American racetracks (Churchill Downs is a one-mile oval), one has to wonder what all the other jockeys were doing while Calvin Bo-Rail was turning the 133rd Derby into his own private tour de force.

Indeed, only journeyman jockey Mario Pino, who rode a great race aboard Hard Spun in his first Kentucky Derby, and relative newcomer Julien Leparoux, who was riding in his second, seemed to appreciate the value of staying on the inside. All the other high-priced and higher profile Derby jockeys acted as if the inside running lanes were going to swallow them whole.

Quite the opposite was true. Through most of the Derby Day racing card, dozens of riders reported to their respective trainers that the rail was faster than any other path on the main dirt track! This happens every so often on American dirt racing surfaces. Biases do occur, especially after heavy machinery is employed to smooth out the surface and boost the drying out process following a heavy rainstorm.

It rained quite a bit in Louisville, Kentucky on the Thursday night and Friday before the race. The heavy rollers did their job. This no doubt pleased Calvin Borel. You saw his exuberance after the race was won. He was tickled pink by the easy trip he was able to execute and the solid, smooth performance he and Street Sense had put together when it counted most. At the same time, is there any doubt that all the other riders in the race knew they had egg on their faces after looking at the video replays?

Kudos go to trainer Carl Nafzger for his brilliant handling of the Derby winner through much of the past year as well as his finely tuned workout regimen during the final few weeks. Praise must also go of course to the horse, who is now the only American Thoroughbred with a chance to sweep the coveted Triple Crown for the first time since 1978.

As for Calvin Borel, even a beleaguered President of the United States, whose judgment calls have left him with many critics, couldn't get this one wrong. President Bush saw Borel's Derby masterpiece and promptly invited him to pay homage to the Queen of England at a White House state dinner convened on Monday in Her Majesty's honor.

Sometimes the rail is more than the shortest distance between two points; sometimes it can be one man's historic path to glory. Just ask Calvin Borel.

Next Week, a look ahead at the horses who may make the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 19 a tougher race for Street Sense.