On Cinco De Mayo a Mexican Jockey Won the Kentucky Derby

Jockey Mario Gutierrez who was born in Veracruz, Mexico took home the Derby prize on his first try.

By Jorge Rivas May 07, 2012

On Saturday, a relatively unknown twenty-five-year-old jockey won the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby, the world’s most prestigious horse race. Jockey Mario Gutierrez who was born in Veracruz, Mexico took home the Derby prize on his first try. "Top trainers, top owners, of course, they’re not going to know anything about me," [Gutierrez told the AP before the race.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/ill-have-another-kentucky-derby-2012-winner_n_1485590.html) Gutierrez was training in Vancouver at this time last year and says he didn’t think he’s make it to the Derby so quickly. "Of course I had the dream, but I wasn’t thinking it was going to be the next year," [Gutierrez told the Kentucky Derby blog. ](http://www.kentuckyderby.com/news/2012/05/05/ill-have-another-overhauls-bodemeister-take-kentucky-derby) "Like all jockeys, we all dream that one day (we’d be fortunate enough to) be in the Kentucky Derby," he went on to say. Last year Puerto Rican jockey John Velazquez took home the grand prize and in 2006 Edgar Prado from Peru won the race. Gutierrez’s win was overshadowed Monday by news that a man who is believed to have worked in the Churchill Downs stables was found dead. [ABC News reports](http://abcnews.go.com/US/kentucky-derby-death-police-view-surveillance-tapes/story?id=16294533#.T6hGdp9Yt90) Louisville homicide detectives identified the man whose injured body was found Sunday morning in one of the barns a day after the Kentucky Derby as Adan Fabian Perez.