Cecil Borel says finish line nearing

K J's Nobility, under Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel, races to a three-length win of the Nodouble Breeders' Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn Park. - Photo courtesy of Coady Photography
K J's Nobility, under Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel, races to a three-length win of the Nodouble Breeders' Stakes Saturday at Oaklawn Park. - Photo courtesy of Coady Photography

HOT SPRINGS -- Cecil Borel might go out on top, but it won't be easy.

Borel trains K J's Nobility, the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Oaklawn's $165,000 Arkansas Breeders' Championship Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile race, with a field of 11 Arkansas-bred horses 3 years old and up, has a post time of 4:06 p.m. today.

Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel, Cecil Borel's brother, will ride K J's Nobility.

Cecil Borel, 66, said retirement might follow his final training effort at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort. He said he would put his five-horse stable in the hands of his assistant and sister-in-law Renay Borel, the wife of Calvin Borel.

"I want to go back home and see my kids and see my grandkids," Cecil Borel said.

The Arkansas Breeders' Championship comes first, and the race is loaded with state-bred and open winners.

K J's Nobility, a 6-year-old son of Primary Suspect, has a career record of 27 9-4-4, and is 14 6-1-2 at Oaklawn. He is 2-0-1 in three Oaklawn starts this season, including a win as the 9-5 favorite in the 6-furlong Nodouble Breeders' Stakes on March 28.

K J's Nobility last worked Saturday, when he breezed 5 furlongs in 1:00.40.

"Worked good, galloped good, came back good," Cecil Borel said. "No excuse if they beat him. Might be his first race going around two turns, but I think he's fit enough. He's had his three races [here]. I would like to have had a route race, but sometimes you can't have everything you want."

Contenders include Hamazing Vision, a son of Hamazing Destiny trained by Robertino Diodoro with Tyler Baze as the listed rider; Man in the Can, trained by Ron Moquett; and Bandit Point, trained by Robert Cline with Kelsi Harr listed to ride.

Hamazing Vision is undefeated in two 1 1/16-mile races against state-bred horses at Oaklawn this season.

"He's doing awesome," Baze said. "He's a nice horse, a very nice horse."

Man in the Can, a son of Can the Man, is the field's only 3-year-old and one of three to have never raced at 7 furlongs or farther. He won Oaklawn's 6-furlong Rainbow Stakes on April 17.

"We've never run with 6- and 7-year-olds," Moquett said. "We've never run a route of ground. We've never run against this many experienced horses, but I like the way he's built. I like the way he trains. I think the only thing we lack is experience. From that point on, I think the talent is there."

Bandit Point, a 5-year-old son of Indy Squall, finished third in last season's Arkansas Breeders' Championship at 69-1. He came from a 9-length backstretch deficit to finish second, 3 lengths behind K J's Nobility in this season's Nodouble.

"I think he'll do better the longer he goes," Cline said after the Nodouble on March 29.

Cecil Borel, an active outdoorsman, said he will return to his property at Lake Fork Reservoir -- a fishing hot spot in Texas about 70 miles east of Dallas -- but will stay at Oaklawn as long as needed to assist in the transition to Renay Borel's stable leadership.

Cecil Borel hopes to start fishing as soon as possible.

"I don't know if I'll come back next year," he said. "It all depends on how Renay's doing and if she needs me. She and I are good friends. We've been friends a long time. If she needs me, she'll tell me. If she doesn't need me, I'll just stay home."

Arkansas Breeders’ Championship

$165,000, 1 1/16 miles

3-year-olds and up, Arkansas-bred

PP HORSE JOCKEY ODDS

1 Promising Shoes Santana 5-1

2 Souixper Charger Garcia 8-1

3 K J’s Nobility Borel 5-2

4 Hamazing Vision Baze 9-2

5 Prospector Fever Mena 8-1

6 J.E.’s Handmedown Elliott 15-1

7 Destiny Way Talamo 20-1

8 Heritage Park Birzer 20-1

9 Bandit Point Harr 10-1

10 Glacken’s Ghost Cohen 15-1

11 Man in the Can Rosario 6-1

Rick Lee's picks

7 The Arkansas Breeders' Championship. Purse $165,000, 1 1/16 miles, 3-year-olds and up, Arkansas-bred

K J'S NOBILITY**** won the Nodouble Breeders' by three widening lengths, and a good case can be made that he is better around two turns than sprinting. MAN IN THE CAN finished determinedly winning the Rainbow, and the sharp sprinter is bred to route and keeps top rider Joel Rosario. HAMAZING VISION has won consecutive races in restricted company, while earning Beyer figures that make him a major threat.

PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS

3 K J's Nobility Borel Borel 5-2

11 Man in the Can Rosario Moquett 6-1

4 Hamazing Vision Baze Diodoro 9-2

1 Promising Shoes Santana Villafranco 5-1

10 Glacken's Ghost Cohen Robertson 15-1

2 Souixper Charger Garcia Peitz 8-1

5 Prospector Fever Mena Davidson 8-1

9 Bandit Point Harr Cline 10-1

8 Heritage Park Birzer Smith 20-1

6 J.E.'s Handmedown Elliott Altamirano 15-1

7 Destiny Way Talamo Deville 20-1

Sports on 05/01/2020

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