There is an empty stall on a particular version of horse racing’s Mount Rushmore – the one with the faces of Eddie Arcaro, William Hartack, and Bill Shoemaker staring down upon the mortals below. Arcaro and Hartack each won five runnings of the Kentucky Derby, while Shoemaker won four, spanning the nearly half-century between Lawrin in 1938 and Ferdinand in 1986. There are seven jockeys who lay claim to three Derby wins – four of them active and all seven in the Hall of Fame – but only Kent Desormeaux and Victor Espinoza have a chance Saturday of becoming the fourth face chiseled into the side of the Kentucky Derby mountain. Desormeaux won the 124th, 126th, and 134th Derby runnings, while Espinoza’s trophies have been for Derbies 128, 140, and 141. This time around, they will enter the starting gate next to each other in posts 10 and 11 when 20 wide-eyed 3-year-olds line up for Derby No. 144 about 6:50 p.m. Louisville time. The challenge faced by Desormeaux and the stretch-running My Boy Jack seems fairly straightforward. He knows his colt, trained by brother Keith, and has ridden him seven times, most recently to victory in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland. They need a fast pace, a collapse up front, and plenty of luck to get through the large field. Otherwise, it should be a snap. :: View a complete list of DRF resources and content related to the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 5 Espinoza, on the other hand, is facing several distinct variables with his mount, Bolt d’Oro, last seen finishing second to Derby favorite Justify in the Santa Anita Derby. For starters, they need to find the three lengths that separated the colt from Justify that day. Bolt d’Oro certainly has the running style to stalk any kind of pace, but that also gives his rider more decisions to make on the fly. On top of it all, Espinoza will be riding the colt for the very first time, at least in the afternoon. “It’s a lot easier if you rode them at least once, and not just in works,” said Espinoza, who has been aboard Bolt d’Oro for owner-trainer Mick Ruis in three morning moves since late March. “The most important thing you look for is that they’re physically 100 percent, if they’re bothered by anything, or a little bit off.” Espinoza worked Bolt d’Oro a half-mile at Santa Anita last Saturday, two days before the colt traveled to Kentucky. “To me, there was a big difference from when I worked him the week before,” Espinoza said. “I gave him a solid work, and it was a big improvement – the kind of work that got me excited for the Kentucky Derby. I think I have an excellent chance.” Espinoza has had a different vibe coming in with each of his three Derby winners. About War Emblem in 2002 he had no clue, learning only in the warmups that the headstrong black colt had a mouth like an anvil and was sitting on tilt. In 2014, California Chrome gave his rider nothing but confidence, and the ride was an untroubled delight, while in 2015 Espinoza’s abiding faith in American Pharoah wavered slightly when the colt seemed distracted, and yet he came through with a gritty win. “I’ll pay attention to his body language warming up for the race,” Espinoza said of Saturday’s challenge. “I’d like to feel him nice and loose, full of energy and happy. When they’re ready to go their muscles really pop, very solid. I’ll be looking for all those things.” Bolt d’Oro’s loss in the Santa Anita Derby was clearly Espinoza’s gain, since Javier Castellano, who rode him that day, switched his Kentucky commitment to Audible for longtime client Todd Pletcher. At that point, Brian Beach, Espinoza’s agent, already had his man working Bolt d’Oro just in case. As a 2-year-old, the Ruis colt had been ridden by Corey Nakatani to victories in the Del Mar Futurity and the FrontRunner, while Espinoza was stuck atop longshot also-rans. “I was so far behind him I hardly ever saw him,” Espinoza said. “I was already unsaddled and heading back to the room by the time he got to the winner’s circle.” Since hitting all the high notes with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome, Espinoza, 45, has been on the short list of jockeys with any kind of profile outside the sport. In a dizzying period of time, he was elected to the Hall of Fame, honored with an ESPY, and competed – to decidedly mixed reviews – on “Dancing with the Stars.” However, since the retirement of Chrome in early 2016, Espinoza’s business has come back to earth. He won only 34 races in 2017, and the $4.5 million won by his mounts was thanks in large part to stakes horses like Stellar Wind, Accelerate, and Greyvitos. This season, with only 11 wins so far, Espinoza’s meal ticket has been Accelerate, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap and the San Pasqual. On Saturday, in addition to Bolt d’Oro, he will be riding Greyvitos in the Pat Day Mile. Chances are, for those glued to a video screen before the Derby, Espinoza will be seen more than once in a freshly minted commercial for Chase mobile banking, in which he sits on a horse, lifts a trophy, tugs the reins, shrugs, and smiles. Ca-ching! “The best thing about it,” Espinoza said, “was I didn’t have to dance.”