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Contact: Jim Mulvihill, Communications and Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager, 504.948.1233, james.mulvihill@fgno.com
Contact: Graham Ross, Staff Writer, 504.948.1255, graham.ross@fgno.com
borel could get 5,000th win at fg thursday
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· Seaneen Girl, Mark Valeski Work Wednesday at Fair Grounds
By Graham Ross, Staff Writer
NEW ORLEANS (Wednesday, December 12, 2012) – Veteran Louisiana native jockey Calvin Borel, nationally recognized for winning three of the last six runnings of the Kentucky Derby, could reach the 5,000-career win milestone at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots on Thursday when he flies in from his home in Louisville, Ky., to ride two mounts at the Crescent City oval.
Currently with 4,998 career wins to his credit, Borel will ride William Helwig’s Belong to B’sal in Thursday’s third race, and return to the paddock in the sixth for the mount on Frank Fletcher Racing’s Boss Man Rocket. Both horses are trained by Fair Grounds conditioner Tim Glyshaw.
“I think both of these horses have a very good chance to win,” said Glyshaw during training hours Wednesday morning at Fair Grounds, “and I know Calvin thinks highly of both of them.
“Belong to B’sal (pronounced ‘B-Sigh’) has a ton of speed,” Glyshaw said of the 3-year-old Belong to Me gelding who has made one career start and finished third after making the pace in a race at Churchill Downs Nov. 11. “Calvin rode him that day, but he broke badly and we had to send (rush) him a little more than we wanted to. But he’s had a bullet work (half-mile in 47 flat at Churchill Downs) since that start and we expect him to break a little better tomorrow.
“Boss Man Rocket made two starts for (Hall of Fame trainer) Bill Mott before Mr. Fletcher bought him and sent him to me,” Glyshaw said. “Those two starts were on the main track but we’re going to try him on the turf tomorrow. I really think this horse is going to run a lot better on the grass. Mr. Fletcher has a private plane and he’s going to send it down to
“I’ve always had a very good relationship with Calvin and he always seems to ride very well for me,” said Glyshaw. “He won the ($100,000) Claiming Crown Express for me with (Joey Merritt’s) Tiban at Gulfstream on Dec. 1.
“My wife Natalie is (six-time Fair Grounds riding champion and
Borel, 46, whose longtime agent Jerry Hissam is currently recovering from recent triple bypass surgery, grew up in Catahoula. Although his heritage is Louisianan, Borel has been a winter regular on the Oaklawn circuit for most of his career, is riding sporadically at Gulfstream until the Hot Springs meeting begins and is most recently remembered at Fair Grounds as the rider of 2009 Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks and Grade I Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra, who went on to Horse of the Year honors later that year.
Should Borel win with both his mounts Thursday at Fair Grounds, he would join a list of only 25 jockeys in North American Thoroughbred history to reach the 5,000-career win milestone.
TEXAS BLING’S SUNDAY SCORE COULD BE A ‘SPRINGBOARD’ TO LOUISIANA DERBY – At odds of 128.80-1, Hall’s Family Trust’s Texas Bling captured Remington’s $300,000 Springboard Mile Sunday on closing day of that Oklahoma oval’s season.
In recent past years, Springboard Mile winners have often been pointed toward Fair Grounds’ three-race series for sophomores that this season begins with the Grade III Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 19, continues with the Grade II Risen Star Stakes Feb. 23 and concludes with the 100th edition of the Grade II Louisiana Derby March 30.
Was the Lecomte Stakes on the likely horizon for Texas Bling?
“That is certainly a possibility,” said trainer Danele Durham, when reached at
“But anything is possible. I like to always be open-minded about these things, and I should also say that winning the Louisiana Derby has always been one of my goals. If we don’t make it to
SEANEEN GIRL, MARK VALESKI WORK WEDNESDAY AT FAIR GROUNDS – Naveed Chowhan’s Seaneen Girl, who captured the Grade II Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs last month, worked a half-mile in 50.60 at Fair Grounds Wednesday morning in early preparation for Fair Grounds’ $125,000 Silverbulletday Stakes Jan. 19.
Brereton Jones’ Mark Valeski, winner of Belmont’s Grade II Dwyer last May and runner-up in last season’s $1 million Louisiana Derby (Grade II), accomplished three furlongs in 34.40 on that same work tab.
About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, the nation’s third-oldest racetrack, has been in operation since 1872. Located in
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James J. Mulvihill
Communications & Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager
Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots
A Churchill Downs Incorporated Company
1751 Gentilly Boulevard,
504.948.1233 [office]
504.481.8770 [cell]
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