Irad Ortiz

Clark Brewster and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn (h, 5, Not This Time--In a Jif, by Saintly Look) made it a perfect three-for-three on the year with another powerhouse performance in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' $2-million GII Ainsworth Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs. The even-money favorite blasted out to the front, raced under pressure while setting fast fractions of :21.82 and :44.14 and kept on motoring down the stretch to win going away by 3 1/4 lengths. Second-place finisher Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and third-place finisher Axthelm...

Off as the 3-1 favorite in the first-ever Grade I event to be contested at Kentucky Downs, Gold Square LLC's Howard Wolowitz (Munnings) came with an irresistible run three or four off the inside at the eighth pole and turned back a late challenge from the well-backed Yellow Card (Lost Treasure {Ire}) to take out the $2-million Aristocrat Franklin-Simpson Stakes Saturday afternoon. Away alertly from his high draw, Howard Wolowitz was ridden positively by Irad Ortiz, Jr. and raced wide, but not far from Joe Shiesty (Air Force Blue), who...

Favored at 12-5 in the Travers Day dirt maiden that more times than not produces horses to watch down the road, Jim Bakke's Tip Top Thomas (c, 2, Volatile--Attempt To Name, by Consolidator) narrowly outlasted a couple of well-meant rivals to become the first 'TDN Rising Star' and eighth winner overall for his freshman sire (by Violence). A $160,000 purchase out of last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Sale, the Apr. 17 foal was coming into this debut off a pair of bullet half-mile breezes in which he outworked no fewer...

'TDN Rising Star' Showcase (c, 2, Uncle Mo--Buy Sell Hold, by Violence), a runaway debut winner going 5 1/2 furlongs downstate at the Big A July 6, muscled his way out for racing room in the stretch and stayed perfect in style going an additional furlong in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special Stakes. The 3-1 chance traveled nicely in an inside fifth through an opening quarter in :21.85. All dressed up with nowhere to go at the top of the lane, Irad Ortiz, Jr. finally found a narrow seam and shifted...

When GIII Sanford Stakes morning-line choice Mentee (City of Light) was scratched Saturday morning, it might have been assumed the race had lost some of its luster, but apparently no one told Mo Plex (c, 2, Complexity--Mo Joy, by Uncle Mo), who was featured in TDN's Saratoga Notebook Friday. The New York-bred Jeremiah Englehart trainee went gate to wire to stay undefeated and give his freshman sire (by Maclean's Music) his first graded win. Studlydoright (Nyquist) and Three Echos (Echo Town) each suffered bumps at the break, but kicked on...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-With the mighty successful prelim--the GI Belmont Stakes--now part of Saratoga's storied history, it is time to move on to the main event. The 40-day racing season, the 156th since the first meet was staged in 1863, commences Thursday with an 11-race program at Saratoga Race Course, America's oldest sporting venue. The listed six-furlong $175,000 Schuylerville S., a graded stakes for 2-year-old fillies through last year, is the traditional opening-day feature. The first post is at 1:10 p.m. By the time the meet concludes on Labor Day, Sept....

Jose Ortiz rode the 3,000th winner of his career when Save the Trees (Preservationist) captured the third race at Churchill Downs Sunday. The 30-year-old, who began his riding career in his native Puerto Rico, moved to the New York circuit in 2012 where he competing against his brother, fellow leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. Five years later, he earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. Ortiz won the 2022 GI Preakness S. aboard Early Voting (Gun Runner) and the 2017 GI Belmont S. aboard Tapwrit (Tapit). He has also ridden...

Following a 12 3/4-length victory by New Jersey-bred Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in the seven-furlong Pasco S. at Tampa on seasonal debut back in January, trainer Derek Ryan got social media all fired up by almost blasphemously suggesting that a trip down the Triple Crown trail--one he'd traversed before with Musket Man (Yonaguska)--was not necessarily an appropriate course to chart for his trainee. "I have no Derby dreams," Ryan told TDN's Bill Finley at the time. "I think the Derby is overrated, but that's just me. We were never really considering...

7th-Saratoga, $110,000, Alw, 6-7, (NW1$X), 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 1:09.08, ft, 2 lengths. MUNNYS GOLD (f, 4, Munnings--Haraawa, by Medaglia d'Oro), making her 4-year-old debut and her first start since finishing third in last year's GI Test S. at this venue last August, flaunted her considerable speed en route to a facile, pillar-to-post victory as the prohibitive 3-4 favorite. Immediately in front for Irad Ortiz, Jr., whose status for Friday's card was up in the air owing to a Thursday ankle injury, the Florida-bred took her rivals along through quick splits,...

Chad Brown has selected Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride his GIII Tampa Bay Derby winner Domestic Product (Practical Joke) in this year's GI Kentucky Derby. The mount opened up when Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) won Saturday's GI Blue Grass S. with Tyler Gaffalione aboard. Gaffalione, also the regular rider of Domestic Product, will stick with the highly regarded Sierra Leone, who could be the second choice in the Derby. "We were lucky enough to pick up Irad Ortiz on (Domestic Product). So he's going to ride him in the Derby,...

The Gulfstream Park Championship Meet ended Sunday with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. defending their respective titles. Ortiz finished the meet with 119 winners, a mark that saw him top the rider's standings for the fifth time in the last six seasons. "It went very good for us," said Ortiz. "It means a lot to win another title here. They make me feel at home here. The owners, everybody training here, the whole organization-- security and the people who work here--they make me feel good. I...

John Stewart, who owns Resolute Racing and founded MiddleGround Capital, will sponsor two Keeneland dirt sprint stakes which will be run opening weekend of the Spring Meet, the track said in a release on Thursday. Resolute Racing will add its name to the $600,000 GI Madison S. which will run on Saturday, Apr. 6, while MiddleGround Capital will sponsor the $400,000 GII Beaumont S. on Sunday, April 7. "My partner Scot Duncan and I have always enjoyed taking our family, friends, co-workers and investors to the races at Keeneland," Stewart...