ARCADIA, Calif. – One year after riding in his first Kentucky Derby, champion Canadian jockey Kazushi Kimura picked up his second Derby mount. Kimura will ride lightly raced Japanese colt T O Password in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, his California agent Brian Beach confirmed.
Kimura, who rode Mandarin Hero to a 12th-place finish in the 2023 Kentucky Derby, was offered the mount by T O Password’s trainer, Daisuke Takayanagi. T O Password, 2 for 2 in Japan, earned his Kentucky Derby berth via the Japan Road to the Derby series. T O Password won the Fukuryu Stakes on March 23 to lead the Japan Road to the Derby points standings.
Kimura is wrapping up his second winter at Santa Anita, where his 16 wins tied him for eighth during the winter meet that ended April 7. Kimura was in Toronto this week for the Sovereign Awards ceremony Thursday night. Kimura is one of three finalists to be named 2023 outstanding jockey in Canada. Kimura won the award in 2021 and 2022.
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The jockey is scheduled to travel Friday and ride at Santa Anita on Saturday and Sunday before returning to Canada, where the Woodbine meet begins April 27.
Plans call for Kimura to be in Louisville for the arrival for T O Password on April 25 or 26. Beach said Kimura plants to get on T O Password “a couple times and get acquainted with him” prior to his Derby start.
With only two starts, T O Password is the least experienced among Kentucky Derby probable starters. He won a 16-runner maiden race in January, and wired the Fukuryu Stakes. T O Password is a Japan-bred colt by Copano Rickey, owned by Tomoya Ozasa (“T O”).
T O Password has the speed to possibly influence the Derby pace, though he is expected to be one of the longest shots in the field. In the 2023 Kentucky Derby, Kimura’s mount Mandarin Hero finished 12th at 17-1 following a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
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