"Those other boys are from someplace else," said Cecil Borel, who travels a circuit of Kentucky, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and currently has a string of 10 horses at the Trackside training center, just a few miles from Churchill Downs, and another five at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La. "I don't really know why Calvin's never gotten the kind of publicity they have. I guess it's because we're coon-asses, country boys. That's the only way I know how to put it."

Partly because of their age difference and life circumstances, it was Cecil Borel, and not their father, who took Calvin under his wing and taught him about horses and riding. Clovis Borel died "about five or six years ago," said Cecil Borel. Their mother, now 84, suffered a stroke and heart attack several years ago and is paralyzed on her right side.

"We were raised to work," said Cecil Borel. "Calvin worked, I worked, the whole family worked. I guess I semi-raised Calvin since he was 7 or 8. He's been tough ever since."

Cecil and Calvin have been close their entire lives, and to this day, that closeness remains apparent. In fact, after Cecil gave Calvin a leg up on a gray gelding named Alpha Capo for a $50,000 claiming race Saturday on the Churchill turf, and the horse won, they greeted each other with a joyful high-five upon reuniting at the entrance to the winner's circle.

Borel ranks sixth in career wins among jockeys at Churchill and is quite familiar with the everyday winner's circle. But in the once-a-year case of the Kentucky Derby, an infield winner's circle is used, and Borel has never gotten close to it. His four previous Derby mounts have closed at odds of 10-1, 59-1, 101-1, and 29-1, with the best finish coming from Ten Cents a Shine, who was eighth in 2003.

This year, however, virtually every serious handicapper gives Street Sense a legitimate chance, and the colt figures about 4-1 or 5-1, with Curlin being the only opponent likely to be sent off at lower odds. Reasonable or not, Borel's extraordinary confidence in Street Sense makes the colt a heavy favorite in Borel's mind.

"I love the way this colt is coming up to the Derby," he said. "He's doing unbelievable."

Borel has many strengths as a jockey but is particularly known for his penchant for saving ground, which has led to another oft-used nickname: Calvin Bo-rail. When Street Sense won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and the Tampa Bay Derby, Borel essentially cut the corner in the turn for home, keeping his mount just inches from the inner rail, as he has done thousands of times before.

Borel is aware that his rival jockeys in the Derby might be keeping their left eyes peeled for Street Sense and Borel trying to sneak through on the inside. Indeed, it probably would be in their best interests to block his path. But Borel believes the other Derby jockeys will be too caught up in riding their own races to keep him specifically in mind, and he scoffed at the notion that the inside rail is his only path to victory.

"There are two rails on that racetrack," he said. "I ain't got to be on the fence. If I need to go to the outside, that's what we'll do. As good as I think he is, this horse could run over the top of the grandstand. He's a racehorse."

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Borel strongly believes the runner-up finish by Street Sense in the April 14 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland did not come close to representing what the colt is capable of doing. The reason: the synthetic Polytrack surface over which the Blue Grass was contested. Dominican won by a nose over Street Sense in a four-horse photo finish.

"It's like he swims over it, just spins his wheels," said Borel. "He doesn't like that Polytrack at all. If I had to judge his effort that day, out of 100, I'd give him about a 10. That's how much he hates it." Conversely, Street Sense thrives on the Churchill surface, Borel noted, with the colt's record-breaking 10-length triumph here last fall in the BC Juvenile serving as stark proof.

For any jockey, a Derby victory would stand out as a seminal moment in a career otherwise filled with countless mud-caked rides dotted by success of varying degrees. Borel is no different. Street Sense, he hopes, will run the race of his life Saturday and provide Borel with the thrill of his life.

"This business has its ups and downs, and I've seen them all," said Borel, who said he has suffered 32 different bone fractures since he began riding, the most recent being a wrist fracture suffered last November in a nasty spill at Churchill. "When I get up every day, it's a good day, and that's because I love this game."

For Borel, winning the Derby would culminate a lifetime of devotion to the animals and the game he has grown to love - no mistake about it.

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