Horse Racing Hoping Borel Generates Interest

While horse racing will not crown a Triple Crown winner this year, the sport's leaders hope Calvin Borel's pursuit of his own personal Triple Crown will draw interest to Saturday's Belmont Stakes. As part of my coverage for Thoroughbred Times, I talked with Belmont officials today who said they have seen a spike in interest for attending Saturday's race that they attribute to the popular jockey. Borel won the Kentucky Derby on longshot Mine That Bird before securing a Preakness victory on filly Rachel Alexandra. With Rachel Alexandra not contesting the Belmont, Borel will return to 2-to-1 morning-line favorite Mine That Bird for the Belmont. Borel's story seems to have registered with a lot of people. The jockey has appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and has taped a segment for Late Night with David Letterman. While the Belmont typically struggles to generate interest in a year that a horse is not going for a Triple Crown, it will be interesting to see if fans turn out for a possible "Calvin Crown."