Dempsey Poised to Fill Rare Role on Derby Gate Crew

In the sport of horse racing, with its many precarious jobs, it's uncommon to see a woman work the starting gate. The male-dominated position, arguably one of the toughest and among the most dangerous on the track, sometimes requires brute strength when handling and loading antsy Thoroughbreds.

That is what makes the upcoming opportunity awaiting Cassie Dempsey all the more remarkable. The 31-year-old Ohio native is believed to be the first woman to ever work as part of the Churchill Downs starting crew for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

"I feel very honored and proud but also very excited," Dempsey said the morning of May 6.

Dempsey's involvement on the Churchill Downs gate crew will also be a first for the track's longtime head starter Scott Jordan, as he's never had a female work on his gate crew for the historic race. Jordan, who has been head head starter at Churchill since 2006, said his recollections date back to 1995, when he first started working on the gate at the Louisville track.

When Nick Corbisello, the head starter at Thistledown, mentioned to Jordan that Dempsey was looking to fulfill a dream of working the gate on Derby Day, Scott didn't hesitate to let her join his team for racing's biggest day.

Corbisello "is a good friend of mine," said Jordan. "When he told me about (Dempsey) I said, 'Well, let me see who's coming and who's not coming and I'll let you know.' And I checked, and surely enough, had a spot for her. I'm not going to stop her from coming down here and completing her bucket list."

Because of the size of the Derby field, when as many as 20 horses compete, Jordan temporarily adds assistant starters to his team for the race. A full field for the May 7 running is set for this year's edition as of Friday afternoon.

Dempsey, who has owned horses her entire life, began galloping racehorses at age 14 and took out her exercise rider's license at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort when she was 16. She eventually took a break from track life but returned in the winter of 2014 when she saw Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley had an opening on the gate crew. Dempsey has been a regular on the starting gate crew at Mahoning Valley and Thistledown since.

Corbisello gave Dempsey a sterling recommendation to Jordan, who will have her, in addition to any other newcomers working on the gate, arrive early on Derby Day to observe their horse-handling skills.

“(Dempsey) schools (the horses) in the morning, and she knows them better than I do," Corbisello told Paulick Report's Chelsea Hackbarth in June 2021. "She puts everything on the computer, talks to the trainers for me. She knows them all. The girl is as good as they come.”

"(Corbisello) has been one of my biggest supporters since I started," said Dempsey.

Despite being one of the only known female gate crew members in the country, Dempsey says she "couldn't imagine doing anything else."