Golden Tempo's Kentucky Derby win pitted brother vs. brother down the stretch

Jon Hale, Lexington Herald-Leader on May 2, 2026

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Brother jockeys have squared off against each other in the Derby 11 times, but never before has a family rivalry played out like the 152nd Run for the Roses.

Down the stretch, brothers Jose and Irad Ortiz on Golden Tempo and Renegade, respectively, both came charging from the outside. As the pair passed leader Ocelli, it appeared either could win, but Golden Tempo gained the edge, eventually winning by a neck.

Neither brother had won the Derby in a combined 19 starts. Now, Jose, the younger by a year, can walk away with familial bragging rights in addition to the career-defining victory.

“Good for him, he ran second,” Jose said of his brother with a smile. “Hopefully he gets the opportunity to win it one day. But it wasn’t today.”

Of the 11 previous matchups between brother jockeys in the Derby, Jose and Irad accounted for eight. They had squared off in each of the past five Derbys, but neither had finished in the money since 2019.

That year Jose finished third on Tacitus and Irad finished fourth on Improbable in the previous best combined finish for brother jockeys. Jose finished second on Good Magic in 2018, but Irad finished seventh on Hofburg.

Entering Saturday, Irad appeared to have the better shot at the win.

Renegade was the morning-line favorite and went off at 5-1. Golden Tempo was a longshot at 23-1.

Golden Tempo had used his closing style to win the Lecomte Stakes in his first race as a 3-year-old but finished third with the same strategy in the Risen Star Stakes and Arkansas Derby in his last two races before the Derby. He was last of the 18 horses more than 3/4 of a mile into the Derby.

“It’s not like we really did anything different that he hadn’t done in his previous starts,” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “There was a lot of speed on tap, on paper, and that materialized. I watched Jose come up and get himself in position going into the final turn, and at about the 3/16 pole, I thought we’re probably going to win this.”

The Derby win capped a historic weekend for Ortiz, who also won the Kentucky Oaks aboard Always a Runner on Friday. He is just the ninth jockey to win both of Churchill Downs’ signature races in the same year.

He won six races across Friday and Saturday.

“When you’re riding in a zone, it’s very good,” he said. “It seems like you make every right move, You move at the right time. I’m glad I had that this weekend. Some other times every move you make is wrong.

“I’m 32. I’m hitting kind of prime for a jockey. … I think I’m young still, but I’m very experienced. ... I’m calm, trust my horses. Part of remaining calm is to have the confidence of the trainers I ride for, who believe in me, trust me, trust my judgment and let me ride the horse the way I want to ride my horses.”

Ortiz won the Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey in 2017. That year he won his first Triple Crown race on Tapwrit in the Belmont Stakes. He won the Preakness Stakes on Early Voting in 2022.

He has won six Breeders’ Cup races, including the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Mile on More Than Looks, who was also trained by DeVaux.

As one of the top jockeys in the world, Ortiz likely could have found his way onto a Derby horse with better odds than Golden Tempo. DeVaux admitted to some apprehension when she called Ortiz’s agent to confirm he would be available to ride Golden Tempo in the Derby.

“We always knew this horse had a lot of ability, but he’s very lazy, as you can see early in the race,” Ortiz said. “...(DeVaux) has been very loyal to me, so I feel like I should give that back. I knew always Golden Tempo was gonna be my mount.”

That confidence served Ortiz well when Golden Tempo appeared out of contention almost as soon as the race started. He pointed to more experience in recent years at Churchill Downs as being key in identifying the points on the track when he needed to make his move.

Knowing his brother’s horse was a closer who should be in contention for the win didn’t hurt either. Jose identified Renegade as one of the horses he should follow and imagined he would be battling his brother at some point, even if he didn’t expect it to be for the win.

When Irad and Renegade made their move to the outside, Jose took Golden Tempo even farther outside.

“We came flying late,” Irad said. “But the winner just got the jump on me.”