Champion at Woodbine to race in Kentucky Derby after several horse deaths

Woodbine Racetrack’s champion jockey is heading to the Kentucky Derby after a week of drama leading up to the famed race involving the death of four horses.

His last-minute addition to the race on Friday comes after the company operating the Derby indefinitely suspended a racehorse trainer on Thursday days after the sudden death of two of his horses.

“I am so excited to get this opportunity and I hope it can be a memorable day for the connections, the horse and myself,” Kazushi Kimura said in a news release on Friday.

The Japanese-born jockey joined the Toronto racetrack as an 18-year-old apprentice in 2018 and “quickly made an indelible impression,” Woodbine Racetrack said.

The Kentucky Derby, also known as the “Run for the Roses,” is a prestigious annual horse race in Louisville, KY., almost always held on the first Saturday in May.

This year, Kimura will be making an appearance on Mandarin Hero in the Triple Crown, a series of races at the Derby for thoroughbreds.

Mandarin Hero is from the Japanese bred champion Shanghai Bobby, a now retired, but at a time, unbeaten horse. Mandarin Hero has four wins and two second-place efforts in six career starts, having amassed more than US$386,000.

Kimura also has a number of accomplishments under his belt – North America’s Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey in 2019, along with the Canadian equivalent in 2018 and 2019, and the Sovereign as Canada’s outstanding rider in 2021 and 2022, after winning the Woodbine riding title in both years.

The Kentucky Derby is scheduled to take place on Saturday.