Jockey Calvin Borel ends retirement, set to return.
HORSE RACING Borel to return Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel didn’t take long to realize that retirement wasn’t for him right now. Borel will end his retirement after just four months and return to racing on Aug. 27 at Ellis Park. The track confirmed Borel’s return on its website Monday. He had abruptly announced his retirement on March 30, three days after his last Oaklawn mount, but said in a Monday release that “when you love something, it’s hard to break away.” Borel added, “This is all I know how to do, and I love it. And I’m healthy. If I wasn’t healthy, I could walk away. But I’m doing so good now. I’m not fighting my weight. I’m so happy.” Borel, 49, won the Kentucky Derby three times from 2007 to 2010 and followed up his 2009 win aboard Mine That Bird by riding Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra to victory in the 2009 Preakness en route to Horse of the Year honors. Rachel Alexandra also won the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn in 2009. Borel rode Rockamundo to victory in the 1993 Arkansas Derby, his only victory in Oaklawn’s biggest race. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2013. Borel’s 5,146 victories rank 27th all time. He also won Ellis Park riding titles in 1995 and 2011. This year, Borel won seven times at Oaklawn and has 947 career victories at the Hot Springs track, according to Equibase. Borel said in the release that he was conflicted when he announced that he would quit riding at Oaklawn Park. He added that Lisa Borel was pressuring him to retire and return to central Florida, where she lived and had show horses. Though Borel and Lisa were in a longtime relationship and she took his name, he said in the release that they never were married. Borel added that he went to Florida, but the relationship didn’t work out. After the Louisiana native spent time at home with family, he returned to Kentucky this summer and began thinking about a return to racing. Borel made it clear he didn’t like retirement. “I took enough time off,” Borel said in the release. “It wasn’t fun anymore. It came to point where this is all I know how to do, I guess. “Some people quit because they’re tired of it. I’m not tired of it. I was in New York for like two weeks, getting on some horses for ‘Coach,’ Wayne Lukas, and he said, ‘You’re not ready to retire.’ … I just want to come back and ride and see what happens.”
BASKETBALL Former Butler player dies Former Butler forward Joel Cornette was found dead early Tuesday morning in a Chicago apartment, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. The office said after an autopsy that the cause and manner of death were pending further studies. Butler issued a news release saying the Cornette family “has confirmed that their beloved son and brother, Joel, passed away early this morning …” and stating they believe he died of natural causes. “They are shocked and devastated by this news,” the release said. Cornette was 35. For the Bulldogs, it is yet another sad chapter in what has been a difficult year. In January, former center Andrew Smith died after a long battle with cancer. He was 25. Less than a month later, Emerson Kampen’s 6-month-old son died from a genetic disorder that affects the central nervous system. Kampen, a former Butler player and a close friend of Smith’s, was the team’s basketball analyst and video coordinator. Now Butler has lost another powerful ambassador in Cornette, who played a key role in Butler’s transition from rising mid-major program to NCAA Tournament regular and eventually to national contender. “He made us all believe,” former Butler coach and current Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens wrote on Twitter. “We love you and miss you already #33.” In four seasons, Cornette scored 1,100 points, grabbed 721 rebounds, played on teams that compiled a record of 10030 and helped Butler reach its first Sweet 16 in 41 years in 2003. He was the first player in school history to score 1,000 points and celebrate 100 victories, and his 144 career blocks and field goal percentage of 54.4 are still among the school’s top 10. Cornette grew up in Cincinnati and starred at St. Xavier High School before arriving at Butler, where he made the conference all-defensive team three times and earned second-team all-conference honors as a senior in 2002-2003.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Clemson DE injured Clemson starting defensive end Austin Bryant is expected to miss at least three games after having surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot. Tigers Coach Dabo Swinney said Bryant got hurt at practice Monday night and had surgery Tuesday. Swinney says he hopes to have the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Bryant back to face Georgia Tech on Sept. 22. That timeline has Bryant out the first three games, including the opener at Auburn on Sept. 3.