Meet the jockeys in Kentucky Derby 151, from past winners to first-time riders

Chicago Tribune

03-05-2025

The roster of jockeys slated to ride in the 151st Kentucky Derby represents both extremes on the experience scale.
Five jockeys — Javier Castellano, Brian Hernandez Jr., Flavien Prat, Joel Rosario and John Velazquez — who have already won the Run for the Roses will seek to do so again Saturday.
Meanwhile, ranging in age from 25 (Joseph Ramos) to 43 (Juan Vargas), there will be five jockeys in Saturday's race who have never before ridden in the cavalry charge that is a Kentucky Derby.
Below is what you need to know about each rider (jockeys are listed in alphabetical order) in Saturday's race.
Junior Alvarado
Horse: Sovereignty
Trainer: Bill Mott
Past Kentucky Derby rides: Five prior Derby mounts. Best finish of fourth, on Mohaymen, came in jockey's first Kentucky Derby in 2016. Was sixth last year on Resilience.
Did you know? A native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Alavarado, 38, is a second-generation jockey whose father, Rafael Alvarado, rode in Venezuela.
Often rides for trainer Bill Mott, including on Cody's Wish, the two-time Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile champion and 2023 Horse of the Year.
Javier Castellano
Horse: Owen Almighty
Trainer: Brian Lynch
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In his 16th and most recent try in 2023, Castellano won the Derby for the first time aboard Mage. Prior to that, his best finish had been third in 2018 on Audible.
Did you know? Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Castellano, 47, won the Eclipse Award as Outstanding Jockey four straight years — 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Jerry Bailey (2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003) is the only other rider to achieve that.
Manny Franco
Horse: East Avenue
Trainer: Brendan P. Walsh
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In five prior rides, best finish was second aboard Tiz the Law in 2020. Most recent Derby was 2023, when he finished fifth on Hit Show.
Did you know? A native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, Franco, 30, has won more than 2,330 races in his career, including the 2020 Belmont Stakes aboard Tiz the Law.
Martin Garcia
Horse: Citizen Bull
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Past Kentucky Derby rides: This year will be Garcia's first Kentucky Derby ride in 10 years. Rode in the Derby four times between 2010 and 2015, with a best finish of third on Dortmund in 2015.
Did you know? Born in Veracruz, Mexico, Garcia, 40, first acquired the mount on Citizen Bull when he made an unprompted call to trainer Bob Baffert before last October's American Pharoah Stakes at Santa Anita.
At the time of the call, Baffert did not have a jockey for Citizen Bull for that race. Garcia got the chance — and rode the horse to victory.
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Brian Hernandez Jr.
Horse: Burnham Square
Trainer: Ian Wilkes
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In his fifth Derby, Hernandez won the race for the first time last year on Mystik Dan. Prior to that, his best finish was eighth in 2017 on McCracken.
Did you know? A native of Lafayette, La., Hernandez, 39, last year became only the eighth jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks (Thorpedo Anna) and the Kentucky Derby (Mystik Dan) in the same year.
In 2025, he seeks to become the seventh rider to win the Derby in back-to-back years.
Nik Juarez
Horse: American Promise
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Past Kentucky Derby rides: First Derby.
Did you know? Like his agent, the retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, Juarez, a 31-year-old native of Westminster, Md., was a high school wrestler.
Jareth Loveberry
Horse: Chunk of Gold
Trainer: Ethan West
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In his only prior Derby, Loveberry finished second in 2023 aboard Two Phil's.
Did you know? In the minutes before his first Kentucky Derby ride in 2023, Loveberry, a 37-year-old product of Mount Pleasant, Mich., drew inspiration by thinking of his late brother. U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Ellsworth was killed by an improvised explosive device in 2004 while serving in Iraq.
Christophe Lemaire
Horse: Admire Daytona
Trainer: Yukihiro Kato
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In two prior Derbys, finished 13th on Crown Pride in 2022 and sixth on Derma Sotogake in 2023.
Did you know? Though a native of Gouvieux, France, Lemaire, 45, has in recent years been a dominant presence in Japanese horse racing. He has even launched a fashion line, promoted as 'the only Japan-made apparel brand inspired by horse racing.'
Julien Leparoux
Horse: Render Judgment
Trainer: Kenny McPeek
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In 14 prior Derby rides, best finish was fourth in 2017 on Classic Empire.
Did you know? A native of Senlis, France, Leparoux, 41, is still looking for his first win in a Triple Crown race. He has, however, won seven Breeders' Cup races, albeit none since winning the 2016 Juvenile aboard Classic Empire.
On Thanksgiving Day, 2024, Leparoux earned the 3,000th win of his career on Pike Place in the third race at Churchill Downs.
Luan Machado
Horse: Final Gambit
Trainer: Brad Cox
Past Kentucky Derby rides: First Derby.
Did you know? Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Machado, 30, gained a foothold in North American Thoroughbred horse racing primarily through his success at Kentucky's Turfway Park, where he has been the leading rider in five meets.
Joao Moreira
Horse: Luxor Cafe
Trainer: Noriyuki Hori
Past Kentucky Derby rides: First Derby.
Did you know? Though a native of Curitiba, Brazil, Moreira, 41, has over the past decade-plus become one of the leading riders in Hong Kong.
Irad Ortiz Jr.
Horse: Publisher
Trainer: Steven Asmussen
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In eight previous Derbys, best finish was fourth on Improbable in 2019.
Did you know? A product of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Ortiz, 32, has won the Eclipse Award as North America's Outstanding Jockey five times — 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Ortiz has led North American riders in total wins eight years in a row.
Jose Ortiz
Horse: Sandman
Trainer: Mark Casse
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In nine previous Derbys, best finishes are second on Good Magic in 2018 and third aboard Tacitus in 2019.
Did you know? Though the 31-year-old native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, is still looking for his first Kentucky Derby win, Ortiz has wins in the other two legs of the Triple Crown. Ortiz rode Tapwrit to victory in the 2017 Belmont Stakes and Early Voting to the win in the 2022 Preakness Stakes.
Is the younger brother of jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and the husband of former jockey Taylor Rice.
Flavien Prat
Horse: Baeza
Trainer: John Shirreffs
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In seven prior Derbys, has finished fourth or better six times. Was designated the winner on Country House in 2019 after the disqualification of on-the-track victor Maximum Security.
Did you know? A native of Melun, France, Prat, 32, was the leading rider at the just-concluded Keeneland Spring Meet with 20 wins.
Prat was the rider on 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline for all six of his career races, all wins, including the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland.
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Joseph Ramos
Horse: Flying Mohawk
Trainer: Whit Beckman
Past Kentucky Derby rides: First Derby.
Did you know? A product of Carolina, Puerto Rico, Ramos, 25, saw his career ascent as a jockey interrupted by a severe motorcycle accident suffered in January 2024, that left him with a broken clavicle, hairline skull fractures, brain bleed and a severe road rash.
After eight months of physical rehabilitation, Ramos returned to riding in September 2024. He punched his ticket to his first Kentucky Derby by booting Flying Mohawk to a second-place finish in Turfway Park's Jeff Ruby Steaks.
Umberto Rispoli
Horse: Journalism
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In two previous Derbys, finished 14th on Brooklyn Strong in 2021 and ninth on Endlessly last year.
Did you know? The 36-year-old Rispoli, a native of San Severino Marche, Italy, has achieved success riding in France and Japan and was a member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club until December 2019, when he moved his tack to Southern California.
Rispoli also won riding championships in his native Italy in 2009 and 2010.
Joel Rosario
Horse: Tiztastic
Trainer: Steven Asmussen
Past Kentucky Derby rides: In 13 prior Derbys, has a win on Orb in 2013 and a second on Epicenter in 2022.
Did you know? A native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Rosario, 40, was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2024. Has won 16 Breeders' Cup races in his career, the most recent aboard Full Serrano in the Dirt Mile last year.
Luis Saez
Horse: Neoequos
Trainer: Saffie A. Joseph Jr.
Past Kentucky Derby rides: Won the 2019 Kentucky Derby on Maximum Security but lost the victory to a disqualification for interfering with two other horses on the far turn. Finished third in 2021 on Essential Quality.
Did you know? A native of Panama City, Panama, Saez, 32, won the 2021 Belmont Stakes aboard Essential Quality. He dedicated the victory to his brother, Juan, who was a 17-year-old apprentice jockey when he died from injuries suffered in a racing accident in 2014 at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino (now Horseshoe Indianapolis).
Juan Vargas
Horse: Coal Battle
Trainer: Lonnie Briley
Past Kentucky Derby rides: First Derby
Did you know? A native of Arequipa, Peru, Vargas, 43, came to the United States in 2008 hoping to establish himself as a jockey. When he had difficulty acquiring a jockey's agent, he worked as an exercise rider, and by 2018 had been hired in that role by the prominent trainer Steve Asmussen. At Vargas' request, Asmussen helped the Peruvian rider establish himself as a jockey.