Jose Ortiz had been chasing a Kentucky Derby since the early 2010s. Ten editions of the first Saturday in May had come and gone with the Puerto Rican rider either in the pack or off the board. The eleventh, on a colt few had circled, finally tipped the ledger.
Golden Tempo, a 23-1 outsider trained by Cherie DeVaux, ran down odds-on favourite Renegade through the final furlong of the 152nd Kentucky Derby. Ortiz, riding patiently from deep, brought him out four wide off the final turn, found the daylight he needed and cleared the wire ahead of a sustained Renegade rally.
For Ortiz, who has won every other classic on the North American calendar at various points, the Derby was the line that had not crossed. The Belmont came in 2017. The Preakness has come too. The Breeders' Cup card has been ticked. The roses, until Saturday, had eluded him.
The ride suited his strengths. Golden Tempo is a late-running colt who needs the front end to be honest and the closer's lane to open at the right time. The pace held up. The track stayed fast. The temperature, at 56 degrees the coldest Derby Day in 37 years, helped a fitter horse more than a tiring one. The rest was patience, and Ortiz has always had it.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux, who became the first woman to train a Derby winner with the result, said little about her jockey on the broadcast, but the pairing has been a quiet feature of her barn for years. "I don't even have any words right now," DeVaux said as the result was made official.
Todd Pletcher, who has had his own long Derby history and saddled runner-up Renegade from the one hole, did not begrudge the result. "It's not the one we would have chosen," Pletcher said before the race, of the post position. "It's not ideal, but it's what we got and we'll do the best we can with it." His colt did about as much as the rail allowed. He was simply caught by a fresher horse with a more obliging trip.
Ortiz now joins a small group of riders who have a Kentucky Derby on a colt that paid more than $40 to win. Golden Tempo's $48.24 win ticket and $94,489.95 superfecta are the sort of numbers that change a punter's year. For the jockey, the numbers are less the point than the line that is finally crossed.
He returns to the Preakness at Laurel Park on May 16 with a Triple Crown leg back in play. Whether DeVaux runs Golden Tempo back in two weeks is a call still to be made — recovery, travel, the venue switch from Pimlico while the Maryland landmark is rebuilt all factor in. If the colt goes, Ortiz will have an unusual problem to manage: the favourite's chalk pressure, on a horse who has only ever raced as the longshot.
It is the kind of problem a rider waits eleven Derbies to have.
