Jockey Who Won ’63 Kentucky Derby Helped Lead Way for Latinos

By Greg Kocher, Kansas City Star

Braulio Baeza was born in Panama and lives in New York, but his story is inextricably tied to Kentucky and Lexington.

He won the Kentucky Derby 50 years ago aboard Chateaugay, a horse from Lexington’s Darby Dan Farm. He was among the first Latino jockeys to win the Run for the Roses.

Since that 1963 victory, 11 jockeys born in Latin America have won 15 Derbys. Five of those riders — Edgar Prado, Victor Espinoza, Mario Gutierrez, Jose Santos and John R. Velazquez — have won during the past 10 years.

Click on the picture to read the full story.