2024 Kentucky Derby Jockeys

By TVG Staff
Updated April 17, 2024

On Saturday, May 4, the 150th Kentucky Derby will be run at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Kentucky. Up to 20 of the most promising three-year-old Thoroughbreds of the year will line up in the starting gate to take their chance at a seven-figure payday, the iconic blanket of roses, and a spot on the immortal list of Kentucky Derby winners. Part of being a smart bettor is getting to know the 2024 Kentucky Derby jockeys!

Hundreds of different bets are available on the race. Our own Kentucky Derby picks involve the horses, but betting on the winning jockey is also increasing in popularity as horseplayers look to find different wagering angles.

Live Derby Week Coverage on FanDuel TV+

Watch FanDuel Racing’s live, commercial-free, racing coverage of Derby Week on FanDuel TV+ beginning Saturday, 4/29 – Thursday 5/4. FanDuel TV will also be on-site at Churchill Downs providing comprehensive coverage, including the latest news, analysis, and handicapping insights in the days leading up to the Derby.

2024 Kentucky Derby Jockeys

These are the jockeys who are so far expected to ride horses in the 2024 Kentucky Derby. They are listed in order of their horses’ priority in the Kentucky Derby.

Tyler Gaffalione

Horse: Sierra Leone (155 points)

At age 29, Tyler Gaffalione has risen from champion apprentice jockey in 2015 to one of the top riders in the game: in 2023, among all North American jockeys, he was ranked second in earnings and third in wins. He won the 2019 Preakness Stakes with War of Will. He also won two Breeders’ Cup races in 2022: the Turf Sprint with Caravel, and the Juvenile Fillies with Wonder Wheel. A perennial riding champion at Churchill Downs, this jockey knows the Kentucky Derby course as well as any rider active today, though after six starts, his best finish was seventh in 2019 with War of Will.

John Velazquez

Horse: Fierceness (136 points)

One of the most experienced jockeys in the sport, John Velazquez has ridden in the Kentucky Derby 24 times, dating all the way back to 1996. He has won the race three times: with Animal Kingdom (2011), Always Dreaming (2017), and Authentic (2020). He also crossed the wire first with Medina Spirit in 2021, though the horse was later disqualified due to a positive test. Velazquez has also won the Belmont Stakes twice, with Rags to Riches (2007) and Union Rags (2012).

Flavien Prat

Horse: Catching Freedom (125 points)

Flavien Prat won his first Kentucky Derby in 2019 with Country House, who was placed first after Maximum Security was disqualified. Though Prat has only ridden in six editions of the Kentucky Derby so far, his jockey record in the race is excellent: he has hit the board five times. In addition to Country House, those money finishes for this jockey include a third-place outing with Battle of Midway in 2017, a second-place award with Hot Rod Charlie, who crossed the wire third in 2021 but was promoted after the disqualification of Medina Spirit, and third-place finishes with both Zandon in 2022 and betting favorite Angel of Empire in 2023.

Antonio Fresu

Horse: Stronghold (125 points)

Antonio Fresu will ride his first Kentucky Derby in 2024. He only started riding regularly in the United States in the spring of 2023, riding mainly in California. He has won nine graded-stakes races in that time, all in California, including the Santa Anita Derby (G1) with Stronghold. Even though he has only been riding in the United States for about a year, he had ridden class horses in Dubai and Europe before that, and won the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) with Zenden in 2021.

Ryusei Sakai

Horse: Forever Young (100 points)

Ryusei Sakai will ride his first Kentucky Derby in 2024. He was entered to ride Continuar in 2023, but his mount scratched the week of the race. He has yet to ride stateside, but he won his first Group 1 in Japan when Stunning Rose won the Shuka Sho. He has also proven he can travel overseas to win major races, as he rode Forever Young to victory in the UAE Derby (G2) this year and the 1351 Turf Sprint (G2) with Bathrat Leon in 2023.

Umberto Rispoli

Horse: Endlessly (100 points)

This will be the second Kentucky Derby for Umberto Rispoli, who rode Brooklyn Strong to a 14th-place finish in 2021. After riding regularly in Italy, France, and Hong Kong, Rispoli began riding regularly in the United States at the end of 2019. He has had five top-level winners in the United States, though his only Grade 1 dirt win in the United States so far came in 2021 when he won the Santa Anita Derby with Rock Your World.

Luis Saez

Horse: Dornoch (75 points)

Saez missed out on Kentucky Derby glory in 2019 when he crossed the wire first with Maximum Security but was disqualified for interference on the far turn. The jockey has a Belmont win with eventual 2021 Champion Three Year Old Essential Quality, who was also placed third in the Kentucky Derby after Medina Spirit’s disqualification. He was also second in the Preakness with Bravazo in 2018 and third in the Belmont with Tapit Trice in 2023, proving he can show up on the sport’s biggest days.

Florent Geroux

Horse: Just a Touch (75 points)

Florent Geroux’s profile as a big-race jockey has risen steadily since he won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with Work All Week in 2014. He now owns eight Breeders’ Cup titles, including two editions of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff with the great Monomoy Girl. Geroux has ridden in the Kentucky Derby seven times, earning his first win in 2021 with Mandaloun, who was elevated to victory after the disqualification of Medina Spirit. He also finished third in 2016 with Gun Runner.

Joel Rosario

Horse: Track Phantom (70 points)

He was 28 years old when he won the Kentucky Derby with Orb in 2013, and also hit the board in 2022 when he was second in the Run for the Roses with Epicenter. He finished near the top of the list for earnings in 2013 and has been there almost every year since then too. He has also won two Belmont Stakes and 15 Breeders’ Cup races, including with both Knicks Go and Echo Zulu in 2021. He also won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in 2021.

Jesus Castanon

Horse: West Saratoga (67 points)

Jesus Castanon’s lone Grade 1 winner and highest-profile horse to date is Shackleford, who he rode to victory in the 2011 Preakness and the 2012 Clark Handicap as well as a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile that year. Shackleford is also his only previous Kentucky Derby mount; Castanon rode him to a fourth-place finish behind Animal Kingdom. His most recent graded-stakes victory came at Churchill Downs last September, when he booted longshot Lady Radler home in the Dogwood (G3).

Keith Asmussen

Horse: Just Steel (65 points)

This will be Keith Asmussen’s first Kentucky Derby ride. After a brief stint as a jockey while doing remote college classes during the height of the 2020 COVID lockdown, Asmussen returned to the saddle regularly in late 2022. He has ridden stakes horses such as Ryvit, Silver Prospector, and Bellamore for his father Steve Asmussen, and he earned his first graded-stakes win with Lemon Muffin for D. Wayne Lukas in the Honeybee (G3) at Oaklawn this year.

Ben Curtis

Horse: Honor Marie (65 points)

An Irish native and top flat jockey in Great Britain, Ben Curtis rode at Fair Grounds over the winter and finished fourth in the jockey standings with 43 victories. Those wins included stakes victories with Tufani in the Pago Hop and with Brian’s Iron Mike in the Costa Rising, and he also guided Honor Marie to a second-place finish in the Louisiana Derby. He will ride in his first Kentucky Derby this year.

Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Horse: Domestic Product (60 points)

One of the best jockeys in America, Ortiz won 3 consecutive Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey from 2018-2020, and two more in 2022 and 2023. At just 31 years old, Ortiz already has 20 Breeders’ Cup wins, including three in 2023: the Classic with White Abarrio, the Sprint with Elite Power, and the Filly & Mare Sprint with Goodnight Olive. Ortiz has won the Belmont twice, with Creator in 2016 and Mo Donegal in 2022. He has also finished second in the Preakness twice. However, he still seeks his first money finish in the Derby: in seven tries, his best finish was fourth with Improbable in 2019.

Julien Leparoux

Horse: Catalytic (50 points)

The Outstanding Apprentice of 2006 and the Outstanding Jockey of 2009, Julien Leparoux has won many of the nation’s biggest races, including seven Breeders’ Cup events, most recently with Classic Empire in the 2016 Juvenile. However, he still seeks his first-ever victory in a Triple Crown race. He has been second twice in the Preakness and third twice in the Belmont, though his best Kentucky Derby finish to date was a fourth from Classic Empire in 2017.

Luis Rivera, Jr.

Horse: Society Man (50 points)

Son of jockey Luis Raul Rivera and godson of jockey Luis Perez, Rivera only began his riding career at the beginning of 2023 at Camarero in Puerto Rico, and began riding in the contiguous states in February 2023. He won the Autumn Days Stakes at Aqueduct with Lady Milagro in November 2023, his first stakes victory, and ran second with Society Man in the Wood Memorial (G2) on April 6, his first-ever mount in a graded-stakes race.

Brian Hernandez, Jr.

Horse: Mystik Dan (46 points)

The Eclipse Award winner for outstanding apprentice jockey in 2004, he has built a strong career riding mainly in Kentucky, and now Fair Grounds over the winter. His biggest win to date came in 2012, when he rode Fort Larned to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Hernandez scored his first Triple Crown race placing in 2022, when the jockey was third in the Preakness with Creative Minister. In four Kentucky Derby mounts, Hernandez’s best finish came in 2017, when McCraken finished eighth.

Kazushi Kimura

Horse: T O Password (Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby winner)

Kimura rode his first Kentucky Derby in 2023 with Mandarin Hero, who finished 12th after getting into the field off the also-eligible list. Though he has only been riding in North America since 2018, his rise has been meteoric: he won a 2018 Sovereign Award for outstanding apprentice jockey in 2018, and the Eclipse award for apprentice rider the next year. He earned Sovereign Awards for outstanding jockey in Canada in 2021 and 2022, as well. Kimura has won three Grade 1 races, including the 2023 edition of the Kilroe Mile, his first top-level win in the United States.

Betting on Trainers in the 2024 Kentucky Derby

Wagering on a horse (or two) to win the 150th Kentucky Derby is one way to go; betting on the winning jockey is another, but there is yet a further market to concentrate your efforts on—the winning trainer.

Trainers with great barns will have more than one card to play in the Derby, so this market is another option for wagers, with trainers such as Todd Pletcher, Brad Cox, Kenny McPeek, and Tim Yakteen all in the running to land the big one.

You can visit our dedicated section to see who is currently favored to take down the Run for the Roses.

Keep it TVG for Your 2024 Kentucky Derby Bets

TVG will keep you informed down the entire Road to the Kentucky Derby, and you can watch and wager with us every step of the way. Find out the latest Derby odds to see what sort of value you can get, and get ready to place your bets!