Golden Tempo won the 2026 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs with Jose Ortiz as the jockey and Cherie DeVaux as the trainer. DeVaux made history as the first female trainer to win the “Run for the Roses.”
Jose Ortiz, the 32-year-old jockey, won the derby for the first time after 11 tries and is expected to take home about $310,000 prize money, as per CBS Sports. A part of this will go to the jockey's agent and valet as well.
Ortiz's win marked his fifth start with Golden Tempo, and he has bagged every Triple Crown race. He won Belmont Stakes in 2017 with Tapwrit and the Preakness with Early Voting in 2022. Ortiz's Kentucky Derby win today came in less than 24 hours since he also won the Kentucky Oaks, the top race for 3-year-old fillies.
The first place, in this case Golden Tempo, will take home $3.1 million. Renegade will take $1 million and Ocelli has bagged $500,000 coming in third. Meanwhile, Irad, who came second will take home about 5% of the purse, which translates to $50,000.
