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I should’ve known better. I should’ve looked longer at who was riding on which mount. But through my mint julep haze, the betting lines coaxed me into complacence. The bourbon and the menthol combined to make me forget the events of just the previous day. The 135th running of the Kentucky Derby, in the slop of the natural dirt track at Churchill Downs, came on the heels of Rachel Alexandra’s record victory over the field in the filly equivalent of the Derby, the 135th Kentucky Oaks. The jockey aboard the filly many said would be the favorite were she to line up in the next day’s Derby?

Calvin Borel, the ragin’ Cajun from southern Louisiana with a propensity for getting more out of his rides than most could ever imagine. On a steed as celebrated as Rachel Alexandra, Borel was able to make a mockery of the rest of the field. Coming in over twenty lengths ahead of the runner-up, Borel opened up the widest margin of victory that had ever been witnessed in the Oaks. Twenty and one-quarter lengths separated Rachel Alexandra from the field, the filly just twenty-three hundredths off the record pace in the 135-year-old race.

Funny thing was, Borel barely had to do anything with this filly. There was no rail-hugging for the man they call “Bo-rail” -- Rachel Alexandra’s winning move past Gabby’s Golden Girl was made on the outside, and the lead was opened up down the middle of the track all the way to the resplendent finish. On such a pedigreed horse as Rachel Alexandra, Borel’s talents amounted to a rout; many were talking about how this horse, pitted against the boys in the Derby, could pull a Rags to Riches story and outrace the field were she to be given the chance.

But Rachel Alexandra’s owner, Dolphus C. Morrison, is a purist. "I don't think a stallion should be messed up by the occasional really, really outstanding filly,'' the owner said to the press after the race. "They should run on their own.'' Holding true to his word, Rachel Alexandra did not race the Derby, nor will she race either of the next two legs of the Triple Crown. She will next hit Belmont Park -- but not for the Belmont Stakes, site of Rags to Riches’ 2007 win over the males. Rachel Alexandra will next take on her female counterparts at the Acorn Stakes, raced on June 6, the same day as the Belmont Stakes.

So Calvin Borel, two years removed from his Derby win atop Street Sense, was in danger of missing the 2009 edition altogether. 42 years old, Borel had emerged in the past couple years from a quarter-century of journeyman status to enjoy a career renaissance. Yet all the major mounts were already ably topped by one jockey after another. Borel had originally been slated to ride the Derby on Beethoven... but the horse had to pull out with an injury. Other chances failed to materialize, which is how Borel found himself on unheralded Mine That Bird in the eighth post as the 135th Kentucky Derby got underway.

The horse lagged well behind the rest of the field through the first half-mile, oftentimes not even appearing in the wide television shots of the field. Relatively untested on natural dirt surfaces, having been groomed on synthetic tracks, it appeared that Borel would end the day in obscurity. But then Bo-rail made his charge, picking off one horse after another and defying conventional wisdom to pull off its own version of Rachel Alexandra’s romp over the field. Seven lengths ahead of the field and across the finish line, the doubters had been silenced. Borel had his second Kentucky Derby in hand, becoming only the seventh jockey in the event’s century-plus history to sweep both the Oaks and the Derby in the same year.

Of course, the euphoria of the win can be tempered by the absence of two early favorites, I Want Revenge and Quality Road, who were both forced to scratch before race time due to nagging injuries wisely noticed by cautious owners. The Preakness and Belmont Stakes are sure to have one if not both horses in the field. Many a pundit failed to pay heed to Borel’s daring style when choosing Derby winners. Few will be as likely to overlook any mount Borel take in his care in the future.

Now the question becomes, in my mind, not whether Mine That Bird can take the Triple Crown (highly unlikely, given the varying lengths and short lag period between races) but rather whether Borel can pull off another double -- that of the Acorn and Belmont Stakes on June 6. He will be atop Rachel Alexandra in the Acorn, and Mine That Bird will most likely be in the paddock for the Belmont. Here’s to hoping the affable Cajun can continue to write the annals of his history with more stirring performances this Triple Crown season...

As Borel prepares for the Derby winner’s annual assault on the Triple Crown, another athlete dominates the field on the opposite side of the Atlantic. We’ve been talking quite a bit about Rafael Nadal this season, and for good reason. I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that the 22-year-old Spaniard, long the world’s most dominant male tennis player on clay, could be looking after his breakthrough hard-court victory at this year’s Australian Open at not just an unprecedented fifth consecutive Roland Garros crown but indeed a calendar Grand Slam.

His clay-court game has not lost one bit of its dynamic flair even as Nadal rebuilds himself in an all-around mold. Already having taken his fifth consecutive titles at both Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal squared off in yet another clay-court final this weekend in Rome. Site of his last clay-court defeat, last season to compatriot and former world number-one Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round, Nadal came in determined to improve on last year’s faltering performance. No longer plagued by the blisters on his feet that caused his first-ever loss at the Foro Italico, Nadal was a man with a mission.

And improve he did! Once again sweeping through the field, Nadal found himself up against Novak Djokovic once again in the final. Djokovic, who won this tournament last year after Nadal bowed out, was desperate for the points that victory would amass. Without a victory, Djokovic would drop below Andy Murray to fourth on the ATP standings. The young Spaniard and Serbian traded punches through the first set, which eventually went to a tiebreak before Nadal closed it out. Djokovic, the only man to take a set out of Nadal on clay this season (in Monte Carlo), was once again taking the fight to his opponent. But that fight would prove insufficient. “I had my chances,” Djokovic said after the match. “He overcomes the pressure better than me, that’s why he’s the best in the world. But overall, I’m pretty happy with the week.”

Djokovic appears to have the best opportunity of the sport’s elite to unseat Nadal when the action heads to Paris later this month. Andy Murray, who bowed out in Rome in the third round but still has amassed enough points with a retooled clay game this season to overtake Djokovic, is another man with an outside chance on the red clay of Roland Garros. And Roger Federer, too, will surely be in the thick of the action as he continues to seek the French Open title that keeps eluding him. The defeated finalist in each of the past three years, mere fodder for Nadal’s ever-improving clay game, Federer will have a tall task as usual.

For it is Nadal who looks simply unstoppable at this moment. Nothing should stand in his way of taking his fifth consecutive French Open crown, surpassing in the process Bjorn Borg as the man to take the most consecutive titles at the second Grand Slam of the season. Then, shortly after, it will be the jaunt across the Channel to Wimbledon, where Nadal has the inside track at defending his 2008 title. It is highly likely that the men will head to Flushing Meadows for the U.S. Open, the season’s final Grand Slam, with only the DecoTurf of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center standing between Nadal and immortal Grand Slam glory...

There’s something about a repeat performance, though, that captivates a fan -- whether or not hen or she cares for the athlete or team repeating. Take, for instance, Manchester United. On the cusp of a repeat conquest of the UEFA Champions League, the English squad could become only the ninth team to defend their European title and the first since Italian Serie A squad AC Milan did it back in 1989 and 1990. The Red Devils absolutely routed domestic rival Arsenal in the second leg of their semifinal draw.

Already up 1-0 after their home leg at Old Trafford, Manchester United came out on fire for their return trip to London. Emirates Stadium, where home side Arsenal had enjoyed clean sheets in eleven of their last dozen matches, was soon silenced as Cristiano Ronaldo found Ji-Sung Park for United’s first goal in the eighth minute. Three minutes later, Ronaldo was stretching the aggregate lead to 3-0 on Arsenal with a blistering free kick that whizzed right through the hands of home keeper Manuel Almunia.

Manchester United continued to capitalize on every opportunity, at complete ease after playing so tight in the first leg of the semifinals. Missing few chances to extend their lead, Ronaldo stretched the gap out to 3-0 on the match and 4-0 on aggregate when Park’s ball through to Rooney on the counterattack was then slotted to the Portugese midfielder in space. The ball, coming off the sharp-shooting foot of Ronaldo, quickly found itself bouncing off the inside roof of the net... and United fans started booking their tickets to Rome for the final on May 27. The only question remaining was who would face the Red Devils in the final at the Stadio Olimpico?

Chelsea and Barcelona had played out a tense scoreless draw in the first leg of their series at the Nou Camp stadium in Spain. Returning to Stamford Bridge in London for the second leg, the visitors knew that even an away goal in a tied effort would send the Catalans through to Rome. Chelsea, though, knew that all it had to do was take care of business at home. The prospect for a rematch of last year’s final -- where, after two hours of action couldn’t separate the two sides, eight rounds of penalty kicks were required before Edwin Van Der Sar stopped Nicolas Anelka in the final penalty shot to give Manchester the title -- was a very real possibility.

And sure enough, the rematch looked from the outset as though it would come to fruition. Less than ten minutes into the match, Michael Essein finished off a 25-yard strike to beat Barcelona netminder Victor Valdes to give the home side the advantage. Chelsea continued to press the pace throughout the first half, getting the better of each opportunity but failing to extend its lead. Barcelona would begin finding its legs as the end of the first half approached, but the hosts took their 1-0 advantage into the locker room for halftime.

Chelsea continued to hold on to its tenuous lead throughout the second half. Twenty minutes after the break, the Londoners chances improved as Eric Abidal, the left-back for Barcelona, tripped Anelka on the fly and earned himself expulsion for his troubles. Playing a man down, Barcelona nonetheless continued fighting on scrappily. But with only a dozen minutes and stoppage time left, the visitors had yet to put a shot squarely on goal. Petr Cech had yet to face any real challenge...

Samuel Eto’o, the striker for Barcelona, received a yellow card as the referee signaled four minutes of stoppage time. Three minutes into that period, the improbable happened at Stamford Bridge -- the rematch which seemed destiny from the outset would now be a showdown between Europe’s two current preeminent leagues. Andres Iniesta, receiving a square ball from Lionel Messi, whistled a superbly weighted strike past the underworked Cech to steal Rome away from Chelsea.

With the away-goals rule, Barcelona now only had to hold on until the final whistle, which with the celebration factored in came five minutes after Iniesta’s heartbreaker. The Champions League takes a break now, as three weeks separate us from the final. For the fifth straight year we find an English squad in the final; Barcelona represents the Primera Liga in the final for the first time since the Catalans were last there in 2006. Chelsea once again is forced into the bridesmaid’s role of English soccer. The season is boiling down to a fever pitch in both intercontinental and domestic competitions, and we’ll be watching the rest of the way to see what success can be achieved on a springtime evening in Rome in twenty-one short days...

Italy doesn’t have to wait that long, though, to host more exciting action in the world of sports. In just two days we’ll see the start of the Giro d’Italia’s hundredth anniversary. The race begins Saturday when the riders wind their way along the team time trial route along the Lido di Venezia, the outlying barrier island of the Venetian lagoon. You can get yourself primed up on the race and all its intrigue through my Giro preview here at Informative Sports. I’ll be here all along the way to keep you updated as cycling’s first grand tour of the 2009 season commences.

Because, after all, we fans of sport in all its glories never have to wait for sports action. There’s always something engaging taking place somewhere around this big spinning celestial orb. So take the tools on offer, get out there and find your niche... A Non-Traditional Sports Fan in America is here to guide you along every step of the way!

Submitted 5/6/2009

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