Cultural melting pot: Kentucky Derby unites people from all over world at Churchill Downs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. − French jockey Florent Geroux first came to Kentucky in 2007 comfortable speaking only a precious few words and phrases in English that he remembered from school.
It took him about six months before language was no longer a barrier. He said it has never been a problem when working with trainers and owners and trying to win races, though.
The 20 jockeys selected to ride on Kentucky Derby horses Saturday at Churchill Downs represent six nations outside the United States, including Venezuela, Ireland and Panama. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, produced the most jockeys in the 2023 field with five.
The trainers tend to be more homegrown: The majority are from the U.S., but there's still an international appeal with Germany, Barbados and Japan all represented.
“Doesn’t matter what language you speak or where you come from − the animal doesn’t speak the same,” said Geroux, who will have the Jace’s Road mount in the 2023 Kentucky Derby. “That’s why it makes it easy for people all over the world to come into horse racing. Because when you’re on the horse, it’s just physically you and the horse.”
People from all over the world set their sights on making it to Churchill Downs with hopes of winning the Kentucky Derby. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, was able to establish an international division of his horse racing stable and bring horses from the Middle East to compete in the Bluegrass.
And the Kentucky Derby has been purposeful in expanding the sport well beyond the U.S. borders. The Japan Road to Kentucky Derby was established in 2017 to provide a series of races that could gain winners entry on the first Saturday in May. (The European RTKD began in 2018, although no horse has gained an entry from it yet.)
Continuar is one of two horses from Japan that will compete in the Run for the Roses this year. He qualified through the Japan RTKD. Derma Sotogake took a more traditional path in earning the seventh-most points to qualify. Though teams from Japan are generally Japanese from the owner down to the jockeys, Derma Sotogake will be ridden by French jockey Christophe Lemaire.
“In a lot of ways, the Kentucky Derby is always on the mind of any horseman with international ambitions,” said Kate Hunter, the Japan Racing Association's representative to the Kentucky Derby. But "with the establishment of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, I think that really kind of changed things.”
Working to break down barriers
Trainer Kenny McPeek became trilingual as a way to better communicate with others in the horse racing business.
The Lexington native began traveling to Brazil about 20 years ago to buy horses and initially didn’t speak any Portuguese. He began learning incrementally from people he had met during each trip.
McPeek also learned Spanish but said he has never had a problem with instructions getting lost in the translation.
“I’ve had Japanese clients, Chinese clients, Germany, Denmark − I could give you so many places of people I’ve trained horses for,” McPeek said. “It’s a very close-knit community. We, in a way, kind of all speak the same language: the thoroughbred.”
Jockey agent Ron Anderson has placed his clients on mounts for 50 years. At one point, the influx of Spanish-speaking riders may have made for a bit more work, but he says it rarely does now.
Anderson once had a Latin client who barely spoke English, so he accompanied the jockey on his morning workouts to make sure there were no problems.
“You didn’t want that known by too many people because they might think, ‘We’re going to use somebody that can speak English,’ ” Anderson said. “He caught on after a while, but sometimes, you’ve got to bridge things like language-barrier stuff with somebody else to interpret.”
Trainer Brad Cox said he has had long-standing relationships with most of the owners he works with, so it “all kind of works itself out.” No matter where you’re from, he said, in horse racing this week, “the eyes of the world are definitely on Louisville.”
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @CLBrownHoops.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Derby brings people from all over world to Churchill Downs
