Edwin Maldonado lands first Kentucky Derby mount after 25-year career

Edwin Maldonado walked into Churchill Downs with the kind of assignment that can recast a career: his first Kentucky Derby mount, aboard Pavlovian for trainer Doug O'Neill and owner J. Paul Reddam.

The 43-year-old rider arrived early April 26 to work the gray-or-roan colt, a move that made the long wait feel immediate. Pavlovian is listed at 30-1 on the morning line, with $527,000 in earnings, and the numbers tell the rest of the story: this is no ceremonial ride, but it is still an outsider’s shot in a race that rewards timing as much as talent.

Maldonado’s path to this moment has been measured in years, not headlines. He is in his 25th year of riding and has compiled 14,199 starts, 1,679 wins, 1,622 seconds and 1,653 thirds, with more than $61.2 million in earnings. His first victory came at Assiniboia Downs on Aug. 13, 2002, and he did not land his first graded stakes win until 2012. A decade later, he finally broke through at the Grade 1 level aboard Defunded in the Awesome Again Stakes, proof that his career has been built on endurance and opportunity rather than early fame.

That background is part of why Pavlovian feels like more than just another Derby entry. The colt won the Sunland Derby on Feb. 15 in 1:42.22 for 1 1/16 miles, then came back on March 21 at Fair Grounds to finish a head behind Emerging Market in the Louisiana Derby. Those two races gave Pavlovian 70 Derby qualifying points, 20 from Sunland and 50 more from the Louisiana Derby, and they showed enough pace and grit to make him a legitimate player if the trip goes right.

O'Neill said Maldonado’s gate-riding skills have helped the colt settle into a better rhythm, and that detail explains why the ride landed now. This is a connection built on fit, not sentiment. O'Neill already owns two Derby wins, with I’ll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist in 2016, and Reddam Racing has also won the race twice. A Pavlovian victory would give O'Neill a third Derby and move him into a tie for third on the all-time trainer list, while Reddam would join Belair Stud with three Derby triumphs.

Pavlovian was developed at Reddam’s Ocean Breeze Ranch north of San Diego, a California homebred shaped for this kind of stage. For Maldonado, the assignment carries the weight of a first chance and the promise that a 25-year career can still change shape in one Saturday at Churchill Downs.