Jockey Jose Ortiz won his first riding title, trainer Chad Brown locked up the training title for a second straight year and Michael Dubb was the leading owner for a third consecutive year at the New York Racing Association's three facilities in 2016.
Ortiz, the nation's leading rider by number of victories in 2016, racked up 319 winners this year at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga, with earnings of over $20 million. The 23-year-old annexed his first Angel Cordero, Jr. award over the summer at Saratoga with 65 wins, in addition to earning the title over the Aqueduct inner track and the spring meeting at the Big A. He rode 78 winners during the Belmont spring/summer meeting.
Three of Ortiz's four Grade I riding successes came in New York, while Oscar Performance (Kitten's Joy) provided the Puerto Rico native with his first Breeders' Cup victory in the GI Juvenile Turf.
Ortiz's brother Irad Ortiz, Jr. finished second in the standings with 295 wins. They were the only two jockeys to ride better than 200 winners in New York in 2016.
It was another wildly successful season for Brown, who bettered his 2015 winning number of 131 by four this season. His runners earned better than $15 million while finishing in the money nearly 60% of the time. Of Brown's 12 Grade I wins in 2016, eight came in New York, including efforts by Flintshire (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Lady Eli (Divine Park), Dacita (Chi) (Scat Dady), Connect (Curlin), Practical Joke (Into Mischief) and Wake Forest (Ger) (Sir Percy {GB}).
Dubb's 78 winners were enough for a fifth owners' title and third straight after being represented by 58 winners in 2015. He also won in 2010 and 2012.
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