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KENTUCKY DERBY
Kentucky Derby

Catalytic trainer, jockey, owner, record and more to know about 2024 Kentucky Derby horse

Jason Frakes
Louisville Courier Journal

Catalytic is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2024 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.

The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 27. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.

Catalytic will enter the Kentucky Derby off a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 30 at Gulfstream Park. He currently ranks 15th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 50.

Catalytic

Catalytic and jockey Kevin Krigger win a maiden race Oct. 7, 2023, at Gulfstream Park.

Color: Bay

Bred in: Kentucky

Sire: Catalina Cruiser

Dam: One Show Only, by Distorted Humor

Price tag: $125,000 at 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale

Owners: Tami Bobo, Julie Davies, George Isaacs. Bobo finished fourth with Simplification in 2022. First Derby for Davies and Isaacs.

Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr., 0 for 2 in Derby. Best finish was eighth with Ny Traffic in 2020.

Jockey: Jose Ortiz. 0 for 8 in Derby. Best finish was second with Good Magic in 2018.

Record: 1-2-0 in three starts

Career earnings: $216,825

Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 50 (No. 15)

Last race: Second in Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 30 at Gulfstream Park, 13 ½ lengths behind Fierceness.

Running style: Has some early speed

Notes: Catalytic won his debut Oct. 7 at Gulfstream Park and opened his 3-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish in an allowance optional claiming race March 8 at Tampa Bay Downs. … In both of his races as a 3-year-old, Catalytic has bumped the starting gate leaving it. … Joseph was suspended for nearly two months at Churchill Downs last year after two of his horses — Parents Pride and Chasing Artie — suddenly died at the track. He was reinstated in June after an investigation by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission found no conclusive causes of the horses’ deaths.

What they’re saying: “Normally when you get beat 13 lengths, you won’t be too happy, but we were beaten, obviously, by a special horse,” Joseph said after the Florida Derby. “I thought there were some good horses that finished behind him, so that’s what makes me feel like he ran well. … He was in a different race, and he beat the other horses. (Fierceness) is in a different class when he’s on his ‘A’ game.”

How many horses have won Triple Crown?Meet winners of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.

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