Catalytic trainer, jockey, owner, record and more to know about 2024 Kentucky Derby horse

Catalytic is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2024 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.

The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 27. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.

Catalytic will enter the Kentucky Derby off a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 30 at Gulfstream Park. He currently ranks 15th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 50.

Catalytic

Color: Bay

Bred in: Kentucky

Sire: Catalina Cruiser

Dam: One Show Only, by Distorted Humor

Price tag: $125,000 at 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale

Owners: Tami Bobo, Julie Davies, George Isaacs. Bobo finished fourth with Simplification in 2022. First Derby for Davies and Isaacs.

Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr., 0 for 2 in Derby. Best finish was eighth with Ny Traffic in 2020.

Jockey: Jose Ortiz. 0 for 8 in Derby. Best finish was second with Good Magic in 2018.

Record: 1-2-0 in three starts

Career earnings: $216,825

Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 50 (No. 15)

Last race: Second in Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 30 at Gulfstream Park, 13 ½ lengths behind Fierceness.

Running style: Has some early speed

Notes: Catalytic won his debut Oct. 7 at Gulfstream Park and opened his 3-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish in an allowance optional claiming race March 8 at Tampa Bay Downs. … In both of his races as a 3-year-old, Catalytic has bumped the starting gate leaving it. … Joseph was suspended for nearly two months at Churchill Downs last year after two of his horses — Parents Pride and Chasing Artie — suddenly died at the track. He was reinstated in June after an investigation by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission found no conclusive causes of the horses’ deaths.

What they’re saying: “Normally when you get beat 13 lengths, you won’t be too happy, but we were beaten, obviously, by a special horse,” Joseph said after the Florida Derby. “I thought there were some good horses that finished behind him, so that’s what makes me feel like he ran well. … He was in a different race, and he beat the other horses. (Fierceness) is in a different class when he’s on his ‘A’ game.”

How many horses have won Triple Crown?Meet winners of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.