From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Demeritte, Larry W.
(born: October 17, 1949 - died: May 19, 2025)In 2024, Larry Demeritte was the second Black trainer since 1951 to saddle a horse in the Kentucky Derby. The horse was West Saratoga, the 12th horse to finish the race, ridden by Jesus Castanon. The odds were 50-1. Demeritte had bought West Saratoga as a yearling at the Keeneland September Sale for $11,000, and the horse earned $473,418 competing in 13 career races. West Saratoga was bred in Kentucky: sire Exaggerator, dam Mo Wicked.
It was Larry Demeritte's dream to have a horse compete in the Kentucky Derby, and he had planned to return to the Derby in 2026, but he died from cancer in May of 2025. Demeritte, who lived in Midway, KY, was born in Nassau, Bahamas where he was a leading trainer. He came to the United States in 1976 and got his trainer's license in 1991. His father had also been a horse trainer in the Bahamas.
For more see Bill Finley. "Trainer Larry Demeritte passes away," 22 May 2025, a Thoroughbred Daily News online article; "Longtime trainer Larry Demeritte, 75, dies of cardiac arrest," an ESPN Horse Racing online article; see Larry W. Demeritte, an America's Best Racing online article; see the Larry W. Demeritte Trainer Profile at Equibase; Jason Frakes. "The Impossible dream." The Courier-Journal, 28 April 2024, pp.1B & 7B; Matt Stone. "West Saratoga" in "Kentucky Derby 150, meet the field." Courier-Journal, 28 April 2024, p.6B; Jason Frakes. "Horse trainer Larry Demeritte dies at 75." The Courier-Journal, 21 May 2025, pp.1B & 4B.