For first-time Derby participants, a dream come true

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They’re the rookies, the new recruits, the incoming class. They’re the fortunate few about to experience the thrill of their first Kentucky Derby starter.

Regardless of how often they’ve been in attendance at Churchill Downs on Derby Day or how successful their careers have already been, a whole new world will open to them when the starting gate is sprung Saturday for the 145th Run for the Roses.

Here are the first-time trainers and jockeys with horses in the main body of the Derby:

Bret Calhoun (By My Standards)

A winner of more than 3,000 races, including a pair of victories at Churchill in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup with Chamberlain Bridge (Turf Sprint) and Dubai Majesty (Filly and Mare Sprint), Calhoun, 54, is easily the most accomplished of the newcomers. Based initially in his native Texas before migrating to the major circuits of the Midwest, his horses have earned more than $79 million and won 33 graded stakes.

Still, Calhoun is in awe of the Derby aura.

“Running in the Derby isn’t something you think about every day because it’s such a far-fetched goal,” he said. “Obviously, it’s the pinnacle. It’s the race you think about a lot, and in everyone else’s mind it’s the race you’re judged by. Casual fans you meet, if you tell them you train horses, they’ll ask, ‘Have you ever won the Kentucky Derby?’ Like it’s just something you do every day.

“You realize it’s a very special race. I never just wanted to be here unless I thought we had a chance, and I really think we’re here with a live horse.”

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Danny Gargan (Tax)

A Louisville native who grew up in the literal shadow of Churchill Downs on First Street, Gargan, 47, said he “spent a lot of my youth in the jockeys’ room” as the son of the late jockey by the same name.

“I can’t remember the first Derby I attended because I was so young,” said Gargan, whose dad won the 1973 Kentucky Oaks on Bag of Tunes. “I do remember as a kid getting Angel Cordero Jr. to sign my program after he won on Spend a Buck.”

Gargan worked numerous racetrack jobs, including as assistant trainer, jockey agent, and bloodstock agent, before opening his own stable in New York in 2013. He has flourished – and then some – winning at a 21 percent clip while attracting a number of high-profile owners.

“Every kid that’s ever worked on the racetrack, the Derby is the dream,” he said.

Koichi Tsunoda (Master Fencer)

Tsunoda, 48, rode in his native Japan for nearly 20 years before turning to training nine years ago.

“I’ve won some graded stakes, but no Grade 1’s,” Tsunoda said through a translator. “The greatest race in the world will be a challenge.”

Tsunoda said he has known about the Kentucky Derby since he was a young boy, but “I never thought I would be able to come here.”

“There have been no opportunities for our jockeys or trainers,” he said. “It’s a great honor to have one stall out of 20.”

Brendan Walsh (Plus Que Parfait)

Growing up enamored of horses in his native Ireland, Walsh, 45, said he “first caught the real buzz of the Derby” when watching Thunder Gulch win the 1995 running on television.

“Although actually, the Breeders’ Cup appealed to us a little more when I was younger because there were always more European horses in it,” he said.

After serving for years as an exercise rider and assistant trainer for another Kentucky-based Irish native, Eddie Kenneally, Walsh opened a public stable in 2012 and has consistently grown his numbers. He long ago realized that the Derby “is the big one,” he said.

“Like I tell everybody, I’ve been to Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, all over Europe, but when it comes to Derby Day, there’s no equal to it,” he said.

Julian Pimentel (Win Win Win)

A Colombia native whose father (trainer Umberto Chavez) and uncle (Javier Chavez) are retired horsemen, Pimentel, 38, has been riding in the United States since 2000, based primarily in Maryland. He has ridden more than 1,600 winners and amassed more than $52 million in mount earnings while acquiring the reputation as a smart, steady journeyman.

“My uncle was always talking and joking around about the Kentucky Derby, saying he would ride in it one day,” Pimentel said. “Now that I am in it, he is very excited. Anybody who is in this industry anywhere in the world wants to be in the Derby.”

Chris Landeros (jockey, Bodexpress)

A native of San Mateo, Calif., Landeros, 30, has racked up more than 1,400 wins and $34 million in mount earnings in a career dating to 2006. After starting his career as an apprentice in California and Arizona, he eventually migrated eastward and now rides primarily in Kentucky while also having ridden the last two winters at Gulfstream Park. He and his wife, Shelby, the daughter of trainer Ian Wilkes, have two young children.

This is a breakthrough weekend for Landeros, given that he also has his first Kentucky Oaks ride on Champagne Anyone for Wilkes. He is extremely excited about having his first Derby mount.

“You grow up and think you’d always want to be in it,” said Landeros. “Hopefully this is the first of many. I feel really blessed with the opportunity.”