2024 Kentucky Derby: How do trainers choose which jockey will ride their horse?

The 2024 Kentucky Derby will feature plenty of jockeys and their horses racing for the roses.

Have you ever thought about how those jockeys are chosen?

The Kentucky Derby shared an informative video on social media in 2023 that details how horse trainers find the right jockey for the right horse, which is a bit like any managerial figure in a sporting environment finding the right coach for the right team.

Two-time Kentucky Oaks-winning jockey Rosie Napravnik explained that trainers prefer a jockey that has familiarity with the horse and has ridden it in the pre-Kentucky Derby preparation races, but that’s not always a guarantee. 

We’ll let her take it from here.

How do trainers choose which jockey will ride their horse for the #KyDerby? Rosie knows a thing or two about the process: pic.twitter.com/vGw4ILmnm9

— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 28, 2023

Napravnik does a really nice job laying out all the nuances of how the jockey selection process goes.

There might not be an exact science to finding the perfect jockey for the right horse, but there is a pretty thorough process as to how these two sides match with one another ahead of the biggest horse race on the planet.