Hall of Fame jockey Borel ending retirement after 4 months

HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel didn't take long to realize that retirement wasn't for him right now.

Borel announced Monday that he 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. He had abruptly announced his retirement on March 30, 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 ?ghting my weight. I'm so happy.''

Borel, 49, won the Kentucky Derby three times from 2007 to 2010 and followed up his '09 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.

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.

Borel said in the release that he was con?icted 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.''