Bejarano to ride Line of David in Derby

Rafael Bejarano will ride Line of David in the Kentucky Derby, trainer John Sadler said Tuesday.

Bejarano had ridden Line of David to two victories in California before the Arkansas Derby, in which Jon Court rode Line of David.

Sadler was the leading trainer at Santa Anita this past meet, and Bejarano was the leading rider. They team up often.

"We felt for this race we would go with our home-team player," Sadler. "He's one of my primary riders in California."

Bejarano had been in line to ride Setsuko, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up, in the Kentucky Derby, but it appears Setsuko will not make the Derby field because of insufficient earnings in graded stakes races.