When it comes to picking the Kentucky Derby, the first thing you’ll want to check out is the horse, its talent, stamina, and pedigree. Can he outduel the rest of the horses, and is he in the right post position to come out ahead of the other 19 horses (usually) in the 1 ¼ run? But another key factor in betting on the race is the jockey.

The jockeys are navigators of the horse, so they need to get a clean start and the position of the horse before the first turn. They also have to judge the pace so that the horse doesn’t burn out early and find running room in a crowded stretch.

Even the great jockeys make mistakes, but if you go by experience, talent and performance at the Derby, that could be the difference between being in the money or out of it.

Of course, having the best horse or one of the best horses doesn’t hurt. The best jockeys are usually on the best horses, but unless there’s a dominant horse like Secretariat out there, the biggest difference between these horses might end up being the jockey.

Sovereignty won last year’s Kentucky Derby, and his jockey was Junior Alvarado with the trainer Bill Mott, who won his second Derby. Alvarado won his first Kentucky Derby and is expected to be on board another Mott horse in Chief Wallabee (13-1) in the 2026 Derby.

Projected Jockeys. 

Junior Alvarado, Chief Wallabee. Alvarado has six previous rides at the Derby and finally won it last year riding Sovereignty.

Hector Barrios, Intrepido. This will be Barrios’ first ride in the Derby. He’s primarily a West Coast jockey, who has 148 starts this year with 25 firsts, 39 seconds and 19 thirds.

Javier Castellano, The Puma. Castellano is 48 and won a Derby three years ago with Mage. The Hall of Famer also has two Preakness Stakes wins and one Belmont Stakes win in 2023 (same year as Mage).

Chris Elliott, Right to Party. The 20-year-old from New Jersey is making his first start in the Derby. His father, Stewart, won both the Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2004 aboard Smarty Jones.

Manny Franco, Albus. The 31-year-old from Puerto Rico has six previous rides in the Derby. His best finish came in 2020, when Tiz the Law came in second.

Tyler Gaffalione, Fulleffort. The 31-year-old from Florida has seven previous rides in the Derby and rode Sierra Leon to a second-place finish in 2024.

Martin Garcia, Litmus Test. Garcia won the 2010 Preakness on Lookin at Lucky and finished third in the 2015 Derby with Dortmund.

Brian Hernandez Jr., Six Speed. The 40-year-old from Louisiana won the Kentucky Derby in 2024 and the Kentucky Oaks in the same year. He won the Derby on Mystik Dan in 2024.

Juan Hernández, Potente. The 34-year-old from Mexico has never ridden in the Derby. He’s very accomplished on the Southern California circuit and will ride for Bob Baffert. Hernandez was on board Potente when he finished second in the Santa Anita Derby for Baffert.

Edwin Maldonado, Pavlovian. The 43-year-old from Puerto Rico is making his debut at the Derby. He’s another veteran rider who has been successful in California. He rode Pavlovian to his first stakes win by a nose and lost by a head at the Louisiana Derby (G2).

Atsuya Nishimura, Danon Bourbon. The young jockey from Japan has not only never raced at the Kentucky Derby, but this will be his first start in North America. He has been aboard undefeated Danon Bourbon for two of his three career starts.

Irad Ortiz Jr., Renegade. Ortiz Jr. is one of the veterans of his big race. He has nine previous rides and finished in fourth in the KY Derby in 2019 with Probable. Ortiz Jr. is one of those great jockeys who is due for a big win at Churchill. He did win the 2016 Belmont Stakes on Creator and the 2022 Belmont on Mo Donegal.

Jose Ortiz, Golden Tempo. The 32-year-old from Puerto Rico has had 10 rides at the Derby, and his best finish was in 2018, when he rode Good Magic to a 2^nd place finish. He’s a very accomplished jockey, having won the Belmont Stakes in 2017 with Tapwrit and the Preakness Stakes in 2022 with Early Voting.

Flavien Prat, Emerging Market. Prat, a 33-year-old from France, won the Derby in 2019 with Country House. He has an overall Derby record of one win, one second, and four thirds in eight overall starts. He was in third-place Baeza in last year’s race, just missing second by a neck. He’s riding the Louisiana Derby (G2) winner in Emerging Market.

Luis Saez, Commandment. Saez is a 33-year old form Panama, whose best finish in the Derby came in 2021 with Essential Quality. He could have had his first win in 2019, but Maximum Security was taken down from first to 17^th due to an incident in the upper stretch where he interfered with several horses. Saez is one of the best jockeys in North America and this might be his best chance since 2021. He’s riding Commandment, who won the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and the Florida Derby.

Ryusei Sakai, Wonder Dean. The 28-year-old from Japan is making his second start in the Derby. His only other ride came in 2024 when Forever Young finished in third place.

Mike Smith, So Happy. Smith is 59 and one of the all-time greats in the sport. He will be in his 29^th Derby with two wins. In 2005, he rode Giacomo to a win and also won in 2018 with Justify. If he wins with So Happy, he’ll surpass legendary Bill Shoemaker as the oldest jockey to win the Derby.

Cristian Torres, Silent Tactic. The 28-year-old from Puerto Rico is making his debut with Silent Tactic. He’s been successful at Oakland Park in Arkansas.

Jamie Torres, Incredibolt. Torres is another youngster (27) making his first Derby start. He did ride Seize the Grey at the Preakness, going gate-to-wire for the legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas. This became the 15^th and final Triple Crown win for Lukas, who passed away last June at 89. His trainer is Bill Mott’s son Riley, who is also training Incredibolt.

John Velazquez, Further Ado. Like Mike Smith, Velazquez is a legendary jockey who is 54. This will be his 27^th Derby, and he has three wins with Animal Kingdom in 2011, Always Dreaming in 2017 and Authentic at 2020. He was also on Medina Spirit in 2021, who won the race, but was disqualified due to a medical violation. Further Ado is coming off an 11-length win at the recent Blue Grass Stakes.

2026 Kentucky Derby Post Positions, Horses, Trainers, Jockeys and Morning-Line Odds

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