Jockey Jorge Chavez enjoys his winning ride aboard Monarchos.

After three failed attempts in the past seven years, Jorge Chavez won the Kentucky Derby aboard Monarchos at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

"It's a great feeling," he said. "I guess the closest you can get would be going to the sky ... I'm so excited I can't even talk right now."

The longtime Belmont Park favorite, who won the 1999 Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding rider, had mounts in three previous Derbys, finishing 14th on Ulises in 1994, 17th on Adonis in 1999, and 11th on Trippi last year.

"This is my fourth chance," Chavez said, "and I said to myself I've got to do it now. This is my first real chance. That's why I was very patient and very focused on my ride."

Monarchos, winner of the Florida Derby and second to Congaree in the Wood Memorial, was far back in the field before moving up with the leaders heading into the stretch.

"I was about 16 lengths behind, I didn't know how fast they were going," Chavez said.

At the 16th pole, Chavez urged Monarchos into the lead and won by 4 3/4 lengths in 1:59 4/5, the second fastest Derby behind Secretariat's 1:59 2/5 in 1973.

"My horse was exploding and I just let him go," Chavez said. "I had so much horse ... he just took off."

Following the race, jockey John Velazquez claimed Chavez and Monarchos bumped Invisible Ink when they made their move to the inside and asked the track's stewards to disqualify Monarchos.

After viewing the incident several times, track steward Bernie Hettel declined to throw out the biggest victory of Chavez's career.

"I didn't even see him," said Chavez, who is known as "Chop-Chop" for his fierce style with the whip. "My horse took off to the inside and I let him go. I didn't feel anything."

Estranged from his family as a boy, Chavez roamed the streets of Lima, Peru, sleeping in cars and scrounging for food, eventually finding refuge at a race track.

He was introduced to the sport at age 20, when a friend took him to the races. Before long he was galloping horses in his home country and made the trip to the United States to ride in 1988.

His first two days at Calder Race Course produced two winners and $5,000. After racking up hundreds of victories all over the country, he finally won his first two Breeders' Cup races – aboard Beautiful Pleasure in the Distaff and Artax in the Sprint – in 1999.

Last year, he finished fourth nationally on the money list with $14,440,907.

Chavez and Monarchos had a three-race winning streak going, including an impressive victory over Outofthebox and Invisible Ink in the Grade I Florida Derby, before running second behind Congaree in the Wood Memorial.

"Jorge has always had so much confidence in this animal," trainer John Ward Jr. said. "There's not enough accolades you can say to describe the way he has ridden this horse."

Down the stretch in the Derby, Chavez knew the victory was his for the taking.

"I had a lot more horse today," he said. "At the sixteenth pole, I knew I got it. I thought I was going to explode."

Although he's had more success than he ever expected, Chavez said the Derby victory will stay remain with him forever.

"This really means a lot to me," he said. "It is the highest you can go being a jockey.

"It's just unbelievable. No matter what happens, this will be in the books for my children and grandchildren to see."