Jose Ortiz rode Golden Tempo to Kentucky Derby win. What to know

Jose Ortiz, 32 years old from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, rode Golden Tempo to victory in the 152nd Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs. It marked the pair’s fifth start together.

Ortiz and Golden Tempo came out of Post 16. They finished the 1¼-mile race in 2:02.27 — ahead of second-place Renegade.

Prior to Saturday, Ortiz’s best Derby finishes in 10 tries came with Good Magic in 2018 (second) and Tacitus in 2019 (third).

Ortiz has now won every Triple Crown race. He captured the Belmont Stakes in 2017 with Tapwrit and the Preakness with Early Voting in 2022.

The experienced jockey delivered trainer Cherie DeVaux a win in her Kentucky Derby debut. Ortiz also delivered Daisy Phipps Pulito of Phipps Stable her first Derby win in this her second appearance. Vincent Viola of St. Elias Stable is now 2 for 5 in the Run for the Roses, having won with Always Dreaming in 2017.

Horse racing is a family affair for Ortiz, whose year-older brother Irad Ortiz Jr. made his 10th Derby start aboard Renegade out of Post 1. Known sibling jockeys have ridden against each other 12 times in 152 years, according to Churchill Downs Racetrack records. Nine of those instances have been Ortiz brother versus Ortiz brother.

Jose bested Irad every year until 2024, when he finished 19th with Catalytic, and Irad finished 13th with Domestic Product.

As siblings and elite athletes are prone to, the Ortiz brothers are extremely competitive. They have been since childhood. Baseball, basketball, and the last dozen-or-so years of horse racing in New York — medium never modified their desire to win.