Jose Ortiz cemented his place in Kentucky Derby (G1) history May 2 when he became just the ninth jockey to complete a Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby sweep at Churchill Downs.
Ortiz joins fellow riders Calvin Borel (2009) and Brian Hernandez Jr. (2024) in capturing the Oaks/Derby double this century.
The 32-year-old native of Puerto Rico began the double by winning the May 1 Kentucky Oaks aboard Always a Runner for trainer Chad Brown and owners Three Chimneys Farm and Douglas Scharbauer. In just her third career start, she won the Oaks by 1 1/4-lengths at odds of 5-1 and remains unbeaten.
"She broke really good," Ortiz said. "She was able to fall behind Meaning, which me and Chad talked about (as) one of the possibilities, that she was a very nice filly to follow. And the plan went like we thought it was going to go. Rarely that happens. We were very happy that it happened in a race like this."
The next day, he climbed aboard trainer Cherie DeVaux's first Kentucky Derby starter, Lecomte Stakes (G3) winner Golden Tempo. The Curlin colt sat last early on, and did not begin to advance on his rivals until the stretch run, where he began to pick off horses one by one. The St. Elias Stable and Phipps Stable homebred won the Run for the Roses by a neck over Renegade.
"It feels great," Ortiz said. "Unbelievable weekend. It's the result of all the hard work I put in for the last 15 years. I'm just very happy I get to win this race."
Ortiz, the regular rider for Golden Tempo, guided him to third-place finishes in both his final preps for the Derby, the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and the Louisiana Derby (G2).
"As soon as I step out of the gate, I want to be in charge and be making the decisions." Ortiz said. "To be honest, most of the time, the rides don't go the way you plan it. It's very rare. And to have free rein to trust myself, my instincts is very important. I'm riding for a great group of trainers right now who allow me to be me and to be myself. I think that helps a lot, that you can make a move and they won't be mad at you. They got your back."
Ortiz had two previous Triple Crown wins, the 2017 Belmont Stakes (G1) aboard Tapwrit and the 2022 Preakness Stakes (G1) aboard Early Voting . Ortiz won his first race in the United States on March 13, 2012, at Parx Racing, with his first grade 1 winner coming the following year in the Hopeful Stakes (G1) aboard Strong Mandate.
"I'm 32. I'm hitting kind of the prime for a jockey." Ortiz said. "I'm young still, but I'm very experienced. I'm calm. I trust my horses. The part of remaining calm is to have the confidence for the trainers I ride for, who believe in me, trust me, trust my judgment, and let me ride the horses the way I want to ride my horses."
