Former South Surrey jockey Mario Gutierrez will take a crack at his second Kentucky Derby title this weekend.
The prestigious horse race – the first leg of horse-racing’s Triple Crown – is set for Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. and Gutierrez’s horse, Nyquist, is the pre-race favourite.
Nyquist – owned and trained by the same team that owned Gutierrez’s previous Derby-winning ride, I’ll Have Another – is listed by oddsmakers as the 10-3 favourite this week.
The Mexican-born Gutierrez – who lived in South Surrey during his time racing at Hastings Park Racecourse in Vancouver under horse-owner Glen Todd – now lives in California.
Gutierrez and I’ll Have Another won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but the Triple Crown was not to be – I’ll Have Another was scratched from the Belmont Stakes due to tendonitis in the horse’s left front leg.
The Kentucky Derby is set for 3:35 p.m. PST.
**A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Kentucky Derby was on Sunday, rather than Saturday.