Derby win eludes Castellano

Javier Castellano is arguably the best jockey in racing right now.

Except, that is, at the Kentucky Derby.

It is a baffling fact: The top rider in the game — he has won the Eclipse Award as the sport’s best each of the past four years — has the worst record of any jockey ever in the Kentucky Derby.

Even with all his accomplishments, when the Run for the Roses draws near the most glaring omission from his resume starts gnawing at him.

“To win this race, it would mean a lot,” Castellano said. He paused, then quietly continued his thought: “A lot,” he said again.

Castellano has ridden in the Kentucky Derby 10 times without a win. He has not even finished second, or third. Only Rafael Bejarano has such a record with at least 10 Derby appearances, and every jockey with 11 or more Derby mounts has crossed the line first, second or third at least once. Will 2017 be Castellano’s time? He will be aboard Gunnevera in this year’s Derby, on May 6.

“He told me that he wanted to ride this horse,” said Gunnevera trainer Antonio Sano, like Castellano a native of Venezuela. “That meant very much.”

Sano believes the breakthrough is coming. “I think he’s the best,” he said.

The numbers certainly suggest that Sano might be right. Besides the four straight Eclipse Awards — something only Jerry Bailey has done among jockeys — Castellano is a finalist this year for enshrinement in racing’s Hall of Fame, with the announcement of the new induction class coming on Monday.

His mounts have collected more than $275 million in earnings, a total only four other jockeys have reached. He has won nearly 5,000 races, including seven at the Breeders’ Cup.

It’s not like he can’t win the big one. He just hasn’t won this big one yet.

“This is my target,” Castellano said. “It would be more than a dream come true. It’s the one thing as a jockey that you want, to get to that level. This is the one.”

Castellano has raced Gunnevera four times, with two wins, a second-place finish and most recently a third-place showing in the Florida Derby when Gunnevera made a huge run from the back of the field. And every time, Castellano has come away a little more confident that he is going to Churchill Downs with a real shot.

“Maybe this is the year,” Castellano said.