Oaklawn news: Hall of Famer Borel and his brother back in business

Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel was getting on horses Monday morning at Oaklawn in preparation for the 2019 meeting that begins Jan. 25.

A fixture in Hot Springs, Borel, 52, was Oaklawn’s leading rider in 1995 and 2001, but didn’t ride at the 2018 meeting, opting to winter at Fair Grounds because of business and family reasons.

“Good to be back,” Borel said after breezing a horse for trainer Gary Thomas, a longtime client. “Feel good. I had a good summer. Can’t wait.”

Borel has 952 career victories at Oaklawn, with his first coming aboard Twice Around in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G2) in 1989. Twice Around also marked the first training victory in Hot Springs for Borel’s older brother, Cecil, who is planning a comeback at the 2019 meeting, the jockey said.

Cecil Borel, who has 105 career Oaklawn victories, including eight stakes, retired in 2014.

“He’ll be here in a couple of weeks,” Calvin Borel said. “He’s going to try and get a couple of horses and run here.”

Borel said his brother has spent the last four years watching his grandchildren grow up and fishing.

“He got tried of sitting around,” Borel said. “Just a matter of time. He hasn’t got anything else to do.”

Finish lines: Multiple stakes winner Amy’s Challenge returned to the work tab Saturday morning, recording a half-mile bullet (:47.40) over a fast track for trainer Mac Robertson, who said he is pointing the daughter of Artie Schiller for the $100,000 American Beauty Stakes for older female sprinters Jan. 26 at Oaklawn. Amy’s Challenge won the $125,000 American Beauty Stakes for 3-year-old female sprinters last January at Oaklawn. … Uncontested, record-setting winner of the $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds in 2017 at Oaklawn, was a front-running five-length allowance winner of his comeback race Dec. 23 at Laurel. Uncontested ($34) ran 6 furlongs over a fast track in 1:08.04 to just miss Richter Scale’s track record (1:07.95), which was set in 2000. Uncontested was making his first start since finishing sixth in a March 10 allowance race at Oaklawn. Uncontested set records for margin of victory (5 ¼ lengths) and time (1:36.32) in winning the 1-mile Smarty Jones, Oaklawn’s first of four major Kentucky Derby preps. … Through Wednesday, Dec. 26, Allen Milligan, Oaklawn’s leading trainer in 2009, had 998 career North American victories, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.