We had a couple of terrific human-interest stories coming out of Kentucky Derby weekend, but doggone if Big Foot – wealthy horseman Jess Jackson – didn’t step in, open his wallet, and pretty much ruin them both. Once again, the business side of the sport trumps the human side, to the detriment of an industry that desperately needs all the heroes and feel-good stories it can muster.

By purchasing the filly Rachel Alexandra for an undisclosed small fortune, Jackson bought the right to take her away from Hal Wiggins, a beloved veteran of the Churchill Downs backstretch, and put her in the hands of Steve Asmussen, whose stable is one of the nation’s largest.

He also forced jockey Calvin Borel to make a choice that no rider ever should have to make – his Kentucky Oaks winner or his Kentucky Derby winner?

No jockey in Derby history has ever had a better weekend than the one Borel enjoyed the first weekend in May at Churchill Downs. First he and Rachel Alexandra won the Oaks by 20 ¼ lengths, more than twice the previous record for margin of victory. Then, in the Derby, he delivered a performance that historians still will be talking about years from now.

Dropping Mine That Bird, a 50-to-1 gelding from New Mexico, back to last in the early going, Borel showed why the Churchill regulars know him as “Bo-Rail.” With five-eighths of a mile remaining, Mine That Bird made a breathtaking move on the rail, passing horses as if they were standing still.

At the top of the stretch, Borel jerked Mine That Bird out to pass a tiring horse, then moved him back to the rail and through a small hole so quickly that Tom Durkin, calling the race for NBC, didn’t pick him up until he was inside the 16th pole and two lengths in the lead.

It was a stunning move that only Borel had the savvy and guts to make. Unlike the tough old riders of yesteryear, today’s jocks try to stay off the rail. It can get tough in there, sort of like the trenches in an NFL game. Sometimes jocks get squeezed out, banged against the rail, even tossed into the infield.

But Bo-rail is as fearless as an Eddie Arcaro or Bill Hartack in their prime. All he cares about is winning. Interestingly, though, he’s a fascinating contradiction in terms –a hard man with a soft side…a confident rider with deep humility.

Read the Rest after the Jump…

As he guided Mine That Bird back to the winner’s circle, Borel was a crying, laughing mess of a man whose joy touched everyone who witnessed it. And when he tossed a rose from the winner’s garland into the air in honor of his late mother, well, suffice it to say that a nation fell in love with Calvin Borel.

Days later, when Borel appeared on Jay Leno’s national TV show, the host seemed totally charmed by Borel, who addressed him as “sir.” And when the Derby stretch run was replayed, the studio audience burst into wild applause and cheers that had Borel grinning his wonderful goofy grin.

But Mike Smith, not Borel, will ride the Derby winner in the Preakness.

Borel picked the filly for two inarguable reasons: (1) He honestly feels she’s better than Derby winner Mine That Bird,  and (2) he figures to get far more business from Asmussen, one of the leading trainers at Churchill, than from Mine That Bird’s New Mexico-based trainer, Bennie L. Wooley Jr.

It’s the first time in 135 years that a jockey has taken himself off the Derby winner in his or her next race, and it puts Borel in a position that’s both enviable and sad. He deserved to ride both horses in their next starts. But, no, Jackson ruined that by rushing her to judgment against the colts in the Preakness.

The man who bred Rachel Alexandra, named her after a granddaughter, and campaigned her through the Oaks is Dolphus Morrison of Columbia, Mo. When Jackson opened his checkbook, Morrison let his head rule his heart. There were no stipulations in the deal about who would train or ride the filly.

At 5:15 a.m. the next day, in what had to be a sad day on the backstretch, the filly was transferred from Wiggins’ barn to Asmussen’s. It must be terrible to have to surrender your dream horse and watch her led away. To his credit, Wiggins handled his loss graciously. Still, there are times when the business side of the sport leaves a sour taste.

Morrison had said repeatedly that he didn’t think it was a good idea to try the filly against colts, but Jackson had no such compunctions. In fact, he could barely wait to interject himself into the Triple Crown spotlight. Who said you couldn’t buy your way into the history book? If she wins the Preakness – and she’s a strong favorite – Jackson and Asmussen will be the guys accepting the Woodlawn Vase from the governor of Maryland.

Personally, I can’t see much satisfaction in taking credit for the hard work of other people. At least Morrison, as the breeder, remains a part of the “team” and will get a measure of credit. But Wiggins’ name will not go into the Preakness record book and that’s probably OK with Hal because he was opposed to running Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. You can’t really miss what you wouldn’t have had, regardless.

When the field is loaded into the Pimlico starting gate, everybody who loves horse racing will be waiting to exhale because the Preakness is a rough rodeo that hasn’t been kind to fillies. The last two fillies who won the Derby, Genuine Risk in 1980 and Winning Colors in 1988, got roughed up in the Preakness. It’s a macho thing. Jockeys and trainers tend to be sexists who believe fillies can be intimidated by colts.

So you can bet that Borel won’t get the easy trip he got in the Oaks and he won’t find the rail open as he did in the Derby. The filly might as well have a bulls-eye painted on her flanks. All the riders will be aware of where she is at all times, and they’ll push or bump her if they get the chance. It’s known as “race-riding.”

Borel probably will try to take her straight to the lead, but I’ll bet a couple of the colts will go with her. Somebody will try to pressure her every step of the way to keep her from relaxing on an easy lead. She has never been targeted like this before. Whether she’s good enough to handle it will be the story of the race.
I’m not convinced she can, but I’ll still have her in my four-horse exacta box with Mine That Bird, Friesan Fire, and Pioneerof The Nile. If I decide to throw in a longshot, it’ll be Luv Gov.

The best thing for me to do is pass the race. I can’t pull against Borel, but I have a tough time pulling for Jackson and Asmussen. There shouldn’t be a price tag on greatness or history or tradition. As far as I’m concerned, Rachel Alexandra always will be Hal Wiggins’ horse, and I don’t care whose name is in the track program.