Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we take a look each week at a recent winner on the Road to the Derby schedule from which racehorses earn points toward qualifying for the 1 ¼-mile classic race May 2, 2026, at Churchill Downs.
The Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve continues this Saturday with the 45th running of the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity, which offers 10 qualifying Derby points to the winner.
With three weeks remaining in the year, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. has set a new single season record for earnings at more than $39.4 million through Dec. 7. Ortiz, Jr. eclipsed the previous mark of $39.1 million he set in 2023. With several more graded stakes on the calendar, Ortiz Jr. could hit $40 million in earnings by the end of 2025. He currently leads Flavien Prat by over $332,000 in North American earnings among all jockeys for 2025.
In recent years, the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct has produced Kentucky Derby top-three finishers Sierra Leone (second in 2024) and Zandon (third in 2022), a pair of Grade 1 winners trained by Chad Brown.
