Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Renegade in the 2026 Kentucky Derby, giving the two-time Belmont Stakes winner another shot at the race that has eluded him. If Renegade wins at Churchill Downs, Ortiz could be in line for an estimated $310,000 from the winner’s share of the purse.
The Derby purse is $5 million, with the winner set to collect $3.1 million. The industry standard jockey payout is 10%, per Yahoo Sports, which would put Ortiz’s cut at about $310,000 if the favorite finishes first. For a rider who has earned more than $11.5 million in 2026 heading into the Derby, it would still be one more marker of a career that has already produced $390 million in earnings over more than 22,000 starts, according to Equibase.
Ortiz, who is listed at 5-foot-3 and 112 pounds, is originally from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. He and his wife, Meliza Betancourt, met while he was in jockey school in Puerto Rico. A 2018 Saratoga Living quote said they had two daughters at the time, and recent Instagram photos suggest the family now appears to have three children.
Renegade is trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by Mike Repole, who bought the horse for $975,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Repole said he named the colt a year and a half ago without expecting to reach this point, then cast the horse as part of what he called a racing crusade. He said that made him a little bit of a renegade, and added that maybe the name was a sign of what was coming in the sport.
The horse carries an added layer of history. If Renegade wins, he would become the first Kentucky Derby winner from the No. 1 post position in 40 years. Ortiz, meanwhile, is still seeking his first Derby victory, despite his resume and his two Belmont Stakes wins. For him, the ride is both a chance at the sport’s biggest prize and a rare opening to turn a long career of near-misses into one defining afternoon.
