The handiness Street Sense showed to Borel bodes well for him winning the Preakness, too. “I can ‘aks’ him to put me in a spot, and he will,” the obviously-elated Cajun told an admiring crowd afterward. Borel took Street Sense back and let him race 19th for much of the Derby, then took to the rail to pass horses before ringing 59-1 Sedgefield and ultimately Hard Spun. “He’s an unbelievable horse — believe me you,” the overjoyed jockey explained as if it was Street Sense’s doing and not his.

So in the same way that Borel puts the words in a cart-before-the-horse sentence structure, assume that the Preakness is not the obstacle to Triple Crown immortality, but the Belmont Stakes is.  Does Street Sense have what it takes to run a marathon?

Well, if bloodlines provide a clue, the answer is yes. Street Sense has 22 points in his Dosage Profile and a Dosage Index of 2.14. The Kentucky-bred is genetically configured to excel at Classic distances, with horses such as Street Cry, Dixieland Band and His Majesty in his background.

Furthermore, the way he runs, from the back of the pack to the front with alarming acceleration, means that he can cruise comfortably in sight of short-winded leaders before launching his assault. 

“He’s push-button,” Borel said, explaining why Street Sense roared from 17th place in the Derby field to third in a quarter mile. “My horse has a tremendous turn of foot, you wouldn’t imagine,” Borel insisted, once again in his convoluted manner.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures A kayaker flips out, a racehorse eyes the Triple Crown and more. more photos

As it now appears, this year’s crop of 3-year-olds is mediocre. Street Sense was the only runner in the field with a Beyer figure of 105, the standard for five of the last eight Derby winners. Only two horses — Smarty Jones and Fusaichi Pegasus — since Spectacular Bid in 1979 have won the Kentucky Derby as the favorite before Street Sense, so his superiority over his contemporaries was not a myth. Moreover, he became the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner in 22 years to take home the roses the following spring.

Against middling competition, a horse such as Street Sense can be a dangerous force. Curlin, third in the Derby after being shuffled to mid-pack after breaking from the number two post position, may live up to his reputation as “a freak.” And somewhere there may be a runner who is coming to hand a little later than required. But, time is running short for 3-year-olds to win a Triple Crown race this spring.

As Borel might choose to say, “It’s over all, but for the shouting.”