Who is riding revolutionary in the kentucky derby

His win in the Louisiana Derby was very impressive when you consider the fact that he went wide into both the first and second turns of the race after spotting the field 12 lengths heading into the first turn.

Jockey Javier Castellano will give way for three-time Kentucky Derby winning rider Calvin Borel creating a reunion of the trainer, jockey and owner combination that won the Derby with Super Saver. Aside from his current form, Revolutionary has the running style and the pedigree that suggest he'll have no problem with the mile and a quarter distance in the Derby. Negatives: As with any horse that likes to come from well off the pace, Revolutionary will need to avoid traffic problems as he begins to make his move on the far turn and the top of the stretch.

A tried and true Derby veteran like Calvin Borel should be well-prepared to deal with a tough trip but there won't be a whole lot he can do if Revolutionary gets cut off or boxed in at some point in the race. When so much of this race is based off of playing angles and understanding the value of pace, however, there are few in the world more prepared to lead this victory.

Paired with a horse with power, speed and momentum, Borel, Pletcher and Revolutionary appear to be a Kentucky Derby match made in heaven.

Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! Your sports. Javier Castellano has settled on Normandy Invasion rather than Revolutionary, who will be ridden instead by Calvin Borel. It all might sound like the ongoing plot of a titillating soap opera, and such a horse-hopping narrative indeed might appeal to some fans, but that alone wouldn't interest dedicated jockeyologists.

They attach great importance to all this shuffling and maneuvering because of a bedrock assumption that jockeyology can assist in finding the Derby winner. Well, it can't. Or at least jockeyology won't be any more successful in discovering the Derby winner than, say, astrology, vulcanology, dermatology, or parapsychology. And the basic reason jockeyology fails is that, to paraphrase Hall of Fame trainer D.

Wayne Lukas, the jockeys have opinions, but only the horses have the facts. With three weeks remaining until a multitude's cheer punctuates the playing of "My Old Kentucky Home" at Churchill Downs, Velazquez and Castellano made their choices.

And if on April 28, in his final pre-Derby workout, Normandy Invasion slips and slides around the Churchill Downs oval as if he has bed slats for shoes, will Castellano start looking over his shoulder for the horse racing gremlins?

And if a few days later, before a national television audience, Verrazano draws the No. And it's not just timing that makes jockeyology an unreliable handicapping tool. Jockeys aren't just choosing between horses, but also among stables. Verrazno's trainer, Todd Pletcher, has the most powerful stable in the country at the moment. And of the 20 stakes races Velazquez has won this year, 11 have been for Pletcher.

But for years, their partnership has been among the most powerful in racing. To ignore that fact would have been worse than ungrateful; it would have been unwise. And so the decision to ride Verrazano was probably stressful, maybe difficult, but certainly inevitable.

Wayne Lukas, a four-time Derby winner. Both are long shots — Will Take Charge at and Oxbow at Oxbow and Normandy Invasion are the other entries which ran at the Fair Grounds this past season. The 21st horse on the points list is Fear the Kitten, an also eligible who would need a defection before 9 a.

Post time is p.