Back in March, the story behind El Kabeir and his journeyman jockey was one of the more heartwarming sagas on the Triple Crown trail.

As the second-string 3-year-old in owner Ahmed Zayat's stable behind 2014 2-year-old champion American Pharoah, El Kabeir was racing along the frozen tundra of New York's Aqueduct Racetrack. Louisville on the first Saturday in May -- the Kentucky Derby -- was his ultimate destination. The son of Scat Daddy, El Kabeir won the Grade 3 Jerome and Gotham, with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Withers sandwiched between them, all with jockey Chucky "C.C." Lopez on his back.

The same 54-year-old Lopez who in more than three decades of riding has won more than 4,000 races, but has never sniffed a victory in a Grade 1 stakes.

Now, though, in an ever-changing world, the story of El Kabeir and his rider has returned to where and what it was back in November.

After El Kabeir's third-place finish in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial on April 4, trainer John Terranova II voiced the opinion that Lopez had misjudged the pace and kept the grey colt too far back to make its presence felt at the finish.

The end result was that Zayat and Terranova decided to switch from a 54-year-old newcomer to the Triple Crown and reunite with a 48-year-old Hall of Fame rider who was a journeyman in many eyes until 2007, when he notched the first of his three Kentucky Derby victories.

The last time El Kabeir raced at Churchill Downs was in November, when Calvin Borel guided the horse to a front-running, gate-to-wire victory by a head in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club.

Borel was supposed to pilot El Kabeir a little more than a month later in the Jerome, but he did not ride that weekend due to the death of his sister-in-law. Forced to find a new rider at the last minute, Terranova turned to Lopez, who is best-known for his work with speed horses.

It seemed a perfect match until the Gotham in March, when El Kabeir got off to a sluggish start and was a surprising ninth in the field of 10 before rallying strongly to win by 2-3/4 lengths.

The speedster was suddenly a closer, latching on to a running style that seems highly conducive to a long, grueling test like the Kentucky Derby.

Now, in turning full circle to November, El Kabeir will return to Churchill Downs for the Derby, where he'll be one of three starters in Zayat's colors, joining American Pharoah and Mr. Z. El Kabeir will try to rally from the back of the pack with a rider who has few equals when it comes to saving ground and guiding closers through congested 20-horse fields at the famed Louisville track in early May. In Borel's three wins in the opening leg of the Triple Crown, his horses were 18th, 19th and sixth after the opening quarter-mile before he fearlessly steered them through traffic jams to victory.

"You come to Churchill, you think 'Calvin Borel,' " Terranova said. "Calvin had the mount for the Jerome, but he had a death in the family and couldn't make it. C.C. Lopez got the mount and has done a wonderful job in his races this winter. We felt coming into this type of race and given Calvin's past success and history on this racetrack, we'd go back to where we started."

While El Kabeir and Calvin "Bo-rail" were an item in November at Churchill Downs, much has changed since then. El Kabeir might not possess the brilliance of American Pharoah, yet has proved to be a consistent, durable runner who, with some help from a brutal pace and the guile of his rider, could emerge as a serious threat in the final furlong of the mile-and-a-quarter run for the roses.

"Calvin rode him here in the fall, but we've got a whole new horse for him as far as his development and maturity goes, mentally and physically," Terranova said.

The odds are against El Kabeir upstaging his Eclipse Award-winning stablemate, yet the tote board couldn't keep Borel out of the winner's circle in the 2009 Derby when he rallied Mine That Bird from last in a field of 19 at 50-1 odds.

The odds should not be that long on Saturday, but they'll be enticing to long-shot lovers. It's already been a long year for El Kabeir, yet he seemed as fresh as ever in his final Derby drill, a half-mile in 46.81 seconds on Saturday at Belmont Park. If anything, it was a quick move reminiscent of the old, front-running El Kabeir.

Yet with Borel in the saddle, rather than Lopez, it's a safe bet El Kabeir will be closer to last than first heading into the first turn.

If that late-running tactic works against a stellar field on Saturday, it will be an amazing story. Maybe not the kind that tugs at your heart like the one that bloomed in March, but a story with a rich, happy ending of its own.

"Everybody's happy. The horse is happy," Terranova said. "We're looking forward to a good week and enjoying it."

Who wouldn't? Everyone loves a great story, right?