Preakness Stakes Winning Combo: Super Saver and Calvin Borel
by Patricia Woo | May 10 2010
As preparations for the
2010 Preakness Stakes continue, all eyes are now on 2010 Kentucky Derby champion Super Saver and his jockey, Calvin Borel. Myriad questions surround them: Is Super Saver more than just a “mudder”? Can Borel win a second straight Preakness Stakes? What about all the fresh challengers lining up to thwart yet another
Triple Crown bid? Valid questions. But as race day gets closer, Super Saver and Calvin Borel have an answer for all of them.
Teaming up Super Saver with Borel for the 2009 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 28 was no accident for owners WinStar Farms. Held at Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby, the $150,000 Gr. 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes gave the duo an excellent opportunity to begin their partnership as well as familiarize Super Saver with the track. And with a rail-skimming ride over a fast track, Super Saver led from gate to wire - in stark contrast to his rallying victory in the Kentucky Derby. Super Saver proved he can win in different ways and under different conditions.
Super Saver's pedigree also suggests he will be capable of handling the demands of a Triple Crown champion. He is a half-brother to Monarchos, who still holds the second-fastest winning Kentucky Derby time. His damsire is A.P. Indy, who won the 1992
Belmont Stakes.
Criticized for choosing to ride filly Rachel Alexandra in last year's Preakness Stakes rather than his
Kentucky Derby-winning mount, Mine That Bird, Calvin Borel has the motivation to prove he can win the second leg of the Triple Crown – never mind the Triple Crown – aboard the same horse. While much of his high-profile success has come at Churchill Downs (he has won the last three of four Kentucky Derbys), Borel knows how to win at Pimlico Race Course; he captured the Run for the Black-Eyed Susans in the 2009 Preakness Stakes with Rachel Alexandra.
Finally, there is the question of the quality of challengers Super Saver will face in the Preakness Stakes. Passing on the Preakness is Ice Box, this year's Kentucky Derby runner-up, who will be instead pointing toward the Belmont Stakes on June 5 – the third leg of the Triple Crown. Paddy O'Prado (third in the Derby) took to dirt well after campaigning mostly on grass but had a taxing trip, as did race favorite Lookin at Lucky. Super Saver's biggest challenge will likely come from Schoolyard Dreams, who did not have enough graded stakes earnings to compete in the Kentucky Derby. Trained by Derek Ryan, Schoolyard Dreams defeated Super Saver in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 13 and will have fresh legs on May 15. He has also been training extremely well at Monmouth Park, turning in a 5-furlong workout in 59.15 seconds on May 6. But Super Saver, who enjoyed a ground-saving trip in the Derby, has come out of the race well and looks ready to take on all challengers.
Super Saver and Calvin Borel are primed to win the Preakness Stakes. Who will you
bet on in the 2010 Preakness Stakes?
