LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They’ve all felt the swirling winds of the hurricane, whether it was Riley Mott on the track as an assistant to his Kentucky Derby-winning father, a young Cherie DeVaux galloping beneath the twin spires, or riders piloting winners before a roaring Churchill Downs crowd on the Derby undercard.
Now, they’re in the eye of the storm. Accounting for the shape of the field as of Friday morning, as many as four trainers and seven jockeys are looking to make their Kentucky Derby debuts on Saturday.
“My first foray, going from Saratoga where I went to college and lived, was to Churchill, and I was 22 years old,” recalled DeVaux, trainer of Golden Tempo. “And this morning, when I was driving in, I just tried to remind myself when I was 22 how much fun it looked and how I hoped to be a part of it. I’m really just trying to focus on the positives and just take it all in.”
Meet this year’s debut Derby participants, in alphabetical order.
Alex Achard Jockey, Great White
Born July 3, 1991, in France
Achard, a regular on the Kentucky and Midwest circuits, is a three-time graded stakes winner, highlighted by the Grade 1 Keeneland Turf Mile in fall 2021 on In Love. He and Great White draw into the Kentucky Derby as also-eligibles. Trainer John Ennis’s only prior Kentucky Derby starter, 14th-place Epic Ride in 2024, drew in as an also-eligible.
Achard has been aboard Great White, a massive May foal whom he describes as “a big baby,” in each of his starts and has helped develop the youngster.
Hector Berrios Jockey, Intrepido
Born March 16, 1987, in Chile
Berrios, already a multiple Grade 1 winner, experienced a breakthrough in fall 2025. In a short span, he won the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes with Intrepido, now his Derby mount; the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby with Baeza; and his first Breeders’ Cup race, the Juvenile Fillies on Super Corredora.
Cherie DeVaux Trainer, Golden Tempo
Born Dec. 2, 1981, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
DeVaux was an assistant to the late Chuck Simon and then to Chad Brown before starting her own stable in 2018. She has been on a precipitous rise of late, winning her first Grade 1 race in 2023 and her first Breeders’ Cup race in 2024 – the Mile with More Than Looks. She also trained her first Eclipse Award winner, the turf female She Feels Pretty, in 2025.
DeVaux is known for her attention to detail in handling each horse as an individual to bring out their best. The just-retired She Feels Pretty, who won six graded stakes, had a pet goat, while Rebel Red became a Grade 1-placed stakes winner after losing an eye. DeVaux says Golden Tempo is straightforward mentally, but she has needed to give the big colt time to mature.
“Every horse is different, and I think every trainer needs to stick with what they’re comfortable with,” she said. “He has matured both physically and mentally. He was always a heavier horse, and it took a while to really shape up physically, and we’re there now.”
Seventeen women have previously saddled Kentucky Derby starters, with the best finish a second by Shelley Riley’s Casual Lies in 1992.
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Mark Glatt Trainer, So Happy
Born Jan. 8, 1973, in Auburn, Wash.
So Happy’s win in the Santa Anita Derby was the third career Grade 1 victory for Glatt and the most poignant, coming less than two months after the death of his wife, Dena, due to heart failure at age 57 in February. The two met in 1996 at Emerald Downs near Seattle and were married for 25 years, with three children.
“I absolutely think she’s above and pushing us through this and hopefully enjoying the ride along with us,” Glatt said this week at Churchill Downs.
Glatt said of his first Derby experience that he is trying to “get through it, and just breathe, and take it one step at a time. Other than my kids being born, it would be maybe the biggest thrill of my lifetime.”
Juan Hernandez Jockey, Potente
Born March 7, 1992, in Mexico
Hernandez came close to making his first Derby three years ago when he was named to ride Skinner, who was scratched the week of the race. Since then, he has continued to be a consistent force on the Southern California circuit, particularly when partnered with Potente’s trainer, Bob Baffert. Of Hernandez’s 12 Grade 1 wins from the start of 2023 through the present, 10 came for Baffert.
Manabu Ikezoe Trainer, Danon Bourbon
Born Sept. 2, 1980, in Japan
This will be the first North American starter for Ikezoe, who, like many of this year’s Derby first-timers, hails from a racing family. His father, Kaneo Ikezoe, is a former trainer, while his brother Kenichi Ikezoe is a jockey. Manabu Ikezoe spent time in Ireland working for Aidan O’Brien before joining his father’s stable in 2006 and taking out his own license in 2015. He has won a pair of Grade 1 races in Japan, the 2022 Hopeful with Dura Erede and the 2024 Takamatsunomiya Kinen with Mad Cool.
Edwin Maldonado Jockey, Pavlovian
Born Dec. 1, 1982, in Columbus, Ohio
Raised in Puerto Rico, Maldonado has ridden two prior Grade 1 winners, 2022 Awesome Again winner Defunded and 2023 Cotillion winner Ceiling Crusher.
“I’m over the moon right now,” he said of riding in his first Derby. “I think it’s every jockey’s dream.”
Riley Mott Trainer, Albus and Incredibolt
Born Dec. 26, 1991, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Mott hung his own shingle late in 2022 after working for nearly nine years as an assistant to his father, Bill Mott, the winner by disqualification of the 2019 Derby with Country House and last year’s edition with Sovereignty. Riley Mott experienced a breakout year in 2025 with Grade 1 winners World Beater and Argos. World Beater won a maiden race on the Kentucky Derby undercard last year, which in itself was a thrill.
“Last year, just winning a race on Derby weekend, for me, that was our Kentucky Derby,” Riley Mott said. “I actually got emotional in the winner’s circle. It was a big deal for our stable at the time. And just thinking that a year later, we’ve got two contenders for the actual Derby, it hasn’t really sunk in. Things happen fast.”
Bill Mott will saddle Chief Wallabee this Saturday. The only previously recorded father-son duo to train horses in the same Derby were Red Wingfield, whose Dandy K finished eighth in the 1964 Derby, and Bobby Wingfield, whose Wil Rad finished 10th. Two legendary father-son pairs have won the Derby – James Rowe Sr. (1881, 1915) and James Rowe Jr. (1931), and Ben Jones (1938, 1941, 1944, 1948, 1949, 1952) and Jimmy Jones (1957, 1958).
Atsuya Nishimura Jockey, Danon Bourbon
Born July 30, 1999, in Japan
This will be the first start in North America for a graduate of the Japan Racing Association’s jockey academy. Nishimura started his career in 2018 and has won 13 graded/group stakes to date.
Cristian Torres Jockey, Robusta
Born Nov. 26, 1992 in Puerto Rico
Torres, a leading rider at Oaklawn Park, has had a whirlwind week of being in, then out, then in again for his first Derby. He was named to ride Silent Tactic, who was scratched earlier this week owing to a foot bruise. Just after 8:30 a.m. on Friday, he got a call from trainer Doug O’Neill, whose also-eligible, Robusta, had just drawn in to the race. Emisael Jaramillo, who O’Neill had named at entry time when Robusta was still three-deep on the also-eligible list, had picked up mounts at Santa Anita on Saturday.
“You want to ride in the Derby on Robusta?” O’Neill said.
There was surprised silence from Torres before he responded, “Oh, yeah, man!”
Torres has won a dozen graded stakes, with his first Grade 1 win coming on the 2024 Kentucky Derby undercard, in the Churchill Downs Stakes aboard Gun Pilot.
Jaime Torres Jockey, Incredibolt
Born Jan. 8, 1999, in Puerto Rico
Jaime Torres, no relation to Cristian, is unique among this year’s Kentucky Derby first-timers in that he owns a previous Triple Crown race victory. He rode Seize the Grey to a victory in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on the 2024 Kentucky Derby undercard for the late D. Wayne Lukas. That propelled the colt and Torres into the Preakness Stakes, which they won in the rider’s classic debut. Later that season, they added the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby. Those account for three of the rider’s six graded stakes wins to date. The other three have all come aboard Riley Mott trainees.
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