With more than 4,500 wins and five Eclipse Awards to his credit in a career that is still in its prime, jockey Irad Oritz Jr. has had more than his share of memorable moments. None of them, however, have come in the Kentucky Derby. Nine times Ortiz has ridden the Derby without success. His best Derby result came with Improbable, the favorite in 2019, who was elevated from fifth to fourth following the disqualification of Maximum Security from first. However, Ortiz feels Mo Donegal, fifth behind longshot Rich Strike was, to date, his best chance. “I see something happen in front of me, I went out and as soon as I swing him out everybody else goes out and they pushed me a little wider than what I want,” Ortiz recalled. “I was right beside Rich Strike. I don’t want to follow him so I decide to go the other way and he ended up winning the race.” Mo Donegal ended up winning the Belmont Stakes, some redemption perhaps. When Forte, the morning-line favorite, was scratched the morning of the 2023 Kentucky Derby, Ortiz picked up the mount on longshot Cyclone Mischief, who unsurprisingly finished last of 18. Since then, Ortiz has finished 13th on Domestic Product in 2024 and 14th on the maiden Publisher. :: DRF's Derby Watch Top 20 | Who's hot, who's not | Pedigree profile: Renegade This year, in a wild spring that saw him win Derby preps on four different horses, Ortiz had a most difficult decision to make regarding whom to ride in the Kentucky Derby. In the end, he and his agent, Steve Rushing, opted to go with Renegade. The Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner very well could go off favored in the race. Ortiz, 33, could have ridden Commandment, winner of four straight, including the Grade 1 Florida Derby. Or, Further Ado, who Ortiz guided to an 11-length victory in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes on April 4. Or Fulleffort, who Ortiz won the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks with on March 21. “It’s insane,” Ortiz said. “What happened this year never happened to me before. It’s tough. They’re all nice.” Neither Ortiz or Rushing offered a concrete, definitive reason as to why Renegade was the horse of choice. Ortiz said Rushing “pretty much” made the final decision. “It was an extremely tough decision,” Rushing said. “Every year you hope you’re in that position and then you’re in that position and it’s just a tough call. We tried to take everything into consideration.” Sometimes, in cases like this, a decision is made based somewhat on what is good for business beyond the Derby. However, if that logic was applied in this case, the decision would likely have been made to ride Commandment or Further Ado since both – as well as Fulleffort – are trained by Brad Cox. Since last September, after moving his tack to Kentucky following the Saratoga meet, Ortiz is winning races at a 30 percent clip for Cox (41 for 136). Renegade is trained by Todd Pletcher, for whom Ortiz has enjoyed tremendous success over the years, including winning the 2022 Belmont on Mo Donegal, as well as the success they had with Forte, the 2-year-old champion of 2022, and further back teaming to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Vino Rosso in 2019. All those horses were owned, at least in part, by Mike Repole. While Ortiz and Repole are friends, Ortiz said that didn’t play a role in the decision on which horse to ride in the Derby. Ortiz speaks glowingly about all the horses he had a chance to ride. Ortiz said he got on Renegade last summer at Saratoga, before he ever ran, and though Renegade was beaten 18 1/4 lengths on debut – the Tom Amoss-trained In Our Time won by 17 3/4 lengths – Ortiz knew the horse was in need of more ground. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Ortiz was in Kentucky when Renegade, ridden by John Velazquez, was disqualified from a victory over Paladin in an Oct. 17 race at Aqueduct. Back aboard for the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct in December, Ortiz said he may have moved prematurely when the horse finished second to Paladin. “At the half-mile pole I wake him up just to stay close and he turned on,” Ortiz said. “I don’t want to stop his momentum after he started going so I put my hands down, let him do his thing. Paladin come around me, my horse felt him, he fought. We got beat but I like what he did.” Renegade was impressive winning the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 7. Informed that Renegade would be making his next start in the Arkansas Derby on March 28, Rushing gave Pletcher a commitment he would ride him in that race. Three weeks after the Sam Davis, Ortiz rode Commandment to a neck victory in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. That followed Commandment’s 6 3/4-length victory in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes, a race “that really caught my attention,” Ortiz said. Ortiz said he “loved Commandment from Day One,” having gotten on him before he finished fourth in a six-furlong debut in October. Ortiz said he remembers telling Cox that the horse wanted to go long. Ortiz was riding at the Breeders’ Cup the day Commandment won his maiden at Churchill Downs. Flavien Prat rode Commandment to a nose victory in the Florida Derby, but Prat is committed to riding Emerging Market. Luis Saez last week was named to ride Commandment in the Kentucky Derby. Like Renegade, Ortiz said he got on Further Ado before he ran last summer at Saratoga. Though Ortiz said Further Ado looks like a sprinter, “when you work him he’s totally different.” Ortiz called Further Ado’s 11-length victory in the Blue Grass “impressive. Just like his maiden race,” which he won by a staggering 20 lengths, also at Keeneland. John Velazquez will ride Further Ado in the Kentucky Derby. While Renegade, Further Ado, and Commandment were the three primary horses Ortiz could have ridden in the Kentucky Derby, he also had the chance to ride Fulleffort, a horse he is 2 for 2 on, but one who has never raced on dirt. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2026: Top contenders, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more “I win on him twice, he fights,” Ortiz said. “He’s kind of a lazy horse, but he looks like he can get the distance for sure.” Since making his decision last week, Ortiz said the connections of the horses he didn’t choose to ride – Wathnan Racing, owners of Commandment, and Spendthrift Farm, owners of Further Ado “have been great to me,” he said. “If they win, I will be happy for them. They’re such classy people.” Ortiz added that Cox, “has been so cool. He never bothered me about it. I have a ton of respect for the guy.” Like the rest of his colleagues, Ortiz covets a Kentucky Derby victory. “That’s probably the most important race of my career, I hope I can win it,” he said. “It’s my dream.” For what seems like the first time, Ortiz has a real chance to make that dream come true. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.