Jonathan Lintner

@JonathanLintner

Victor Espinoza will seek a third straight Kentucky Derby win, this time on Whitmore, the gelding's co-owner Harry Rosenblum announced Wednesday.

Whitmore enters off a third-place effort in the Arkansas Derby and broke his maiden last November over the Churchill Downs strip. He's a known closer that trainer Ron Moquett often calls "a beast."

As for the rider, Moquett said connections sought Espinoza because "he tends to win big races, and he does that by staying out of trouble."

"We wanted some familiarity with either the horse or the group or the situation, and he has familiarity with the situation," Moquett said.

The 43-year-old from Mexico most recently guided California Chrome (2014) and American Pharoah (2015) on the first Saturday in May. Going back to 2002, he has another Derby win aboard War Emblem.

Following American Pharoah's run to the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup Classic, Espinoza resumed riding 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome, last month a winner of the world's richest race, the $10 million Dubai World Cup.

Calvin Borel, in 2009 and 2010, was the last jockey to win back-to-back Derbys before Espinoza. None have won three consecutive renewal's in the Derby's 141-year history.

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Whitmore has had four jockeys in his six career starts. Irad Ortiz Jr. rode the chestnut son of Pleasantly Perfect in his past two races, a runner-up effort in Oaklawn Park's Grade II Rebel before his closing third in the Grade I Arkansas Derby.

In his lone start at Churchill, Whitmore broke his maiden by 7 1/4 lengths while making his debut for Moquett, who trained his first Derby starter, Far Right, in 2015.

Ortiz Jr. will ride Blue Grass Stakes runner-up My Man Sam. Joel Rosario, who rode 2013 Derby winner Orb, has the mount on trainer Chad Brown's other horse, Shagaf. The Daily Racing Form also reported Wednesday that Julien Leparoux earned the assignment for Oscar Nominated, the longshot Spiral Stakes winner trying the Derby for leading Churchill owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey.