{"id":23379,"date":"2026-05-07T09:15:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=23379"},"modified":"2026-05-07T09:15:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:15:20","slug":"as-the-2026-kentucky-derby-entered-its-final-stretch-it-looked-like-irad-ortiz-jr-had-the-moment-under-control-until-another-horse-suddenly-came-flying-from-behind-riding-golden-tempo-hi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/?p=23379","title":{"rendered":"As the 2026 Kentucky Derby entered its final stretch, it looked like Irad Ortiz Jr. had the moment under control \u2014 until another horse suddenly came flying from behind. Riding Golden Tempo, his own brother Jose Ortiz made a late charge so aggressive and unexpected that the crowd inside Churchill Downs erupted instantly."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The final stretch of the 2026 Kentucky Derby saw race favorite Renegade and longshot Golden\u00a0Tempo\u00a0surge forward,\u00a0with Golden Tempo getting a historic win.<\/p>\n<div class=\"9vkG4b65\"><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.newyorker.com\/photos\/5a14469ffbb6a62c46d366fc\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/171204_r31042.jpg\" alt=\"Puerto Rico's Ortiz Brothers Light Up Horse Racing | The New Yorker\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"lH9AoUhp\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-4\"><\/div>\n<p>It was a thrilling finish, and also a big day for two brothers.<\/p>\n<p>Jose Ortiz (Golden Tempo) and Irad Ortiz Jr. (Renegade) were the jockeys atop the top two finishing horses at Churchill Downs on Saturday. You probably don\u2019t need us to tell you that\u2019s a first in race history.<\/p>\n<p>The brothers exchanged a fist bump after crossing the finish line.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"standard-img\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/SAUGGSq.8Xyb_0hs5mqYKg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/uu\/api\/res\/1.2\/gZiU74NPDD55sWCjwIk72w--~B\/aD0yNDgwO3c9MzcyMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--\/https:\/\/d29szjachogqwa.cloudfront.net\/images\/2026-05\/997daa9a-d6ce-4958-b511-b5b90ff05220\" alt=\"LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MAY 02: Golden Tempo #19, ridden by jockey Jose Ortiz, celebrates with Renegade #1, ridden by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., after cross the finish line to win the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 02, 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Steph Chambers\/Getty Images)\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"lightbox-btn\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"8\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"fig-credit\">Jose (left) and Irad Ortiz (right) had a special day on Saturday.<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"caption-credit\">\u00a0(Steph Chambers via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The win was Jose\u2019s first at the Kentucky Derby. He also won the Kentucky Oaks atop Always a Runner on Friday, making him the ninth jockey to pull off the double at Churchill Downs.<\/p>\n<p>He said he hopes his brother Irad joins him in reaching the winner\u2019s circle some day, but made clear he was happy to get there first\u00a0while speaking with NBC Sports:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"content-blockquote\">\n<div class=\"blockquote\">\n<p>\u201cI want him to win the Derby, of course. I know it\u2019s his dream as well, but it happened my way. I think he should be happy, his horse ran a very nice race, it\u2019s a very nice horse. It was my year, today\u2019s my day. It was Golden Tempo\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=admin&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=2050720156079284235&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fhumansofgeorgia.net%2Fngocquynhlt%2Fas-the-2026-kentucky-derby-entered-its-final-stretch-it-looked-like-irad-ortiz-jr-had-the-moment-under-control-until-another-horse-suddenly-came-flying-from-behind-riding-golden-tempo-hi%2F&amp;sessionId=2cc977705f45cf40943b6de148e835d483618211&amp;siteScreenName=admin&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"2050720156079284235\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It was a bittersweet moment for Irad, who celebrated with Jose but still had to be consoled by Renegade owner Mike Repole, who could be heard joking \u201cf*** your brother\u201d before saying \u201cIf you\u2019re going to f***ing lose, lose to your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F27367840989466391%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=268&amp;t=0\" width=\"268\" height=\"476\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<section class=\"consent\">\n<div class=\"tweet-item\">\n<p>The results continued a highly successful 2026 for both brothers. Irad entered Friday leading all jockeys in earnings for the year with 111 wins in 445 starts, while Jose was fourth in earnings with 102 wins in 401 starts,\u00a0according to Bloodhorse\u2019s leaderboard.<\/p>\n<p>The pair became the third sibling tandem to simply compete at the Derby in 2014,\u00a0per the Courier Journal, and have been regulars at the race ever since.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The final stretch of the 2026 Kentucky Derby saw race favorite Renegade and longshot Golden\u00a0Tempo\u00a0surge forward,\u00a0with Golden Tempo getting a historic win. It was a thrilling finish,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23379"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23381,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23379\/revisions\/23381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow24.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}