Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.

With a plethora of Breeders' Cup berths up for grabs over the past weekend, Repole Stable's Final Score (Not This Time) grabbed the last one when taking Keeneland's GII Castle & Key Bourbon Stakes, a qualifier to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar. Final Score was driven to the front from the word jump, rolling out and opening quarter mile in :22.51. Soon running head-and-head with Casa Cielo (Caravaggio)) through a :47.69 half, he continued to play cat-and-mouse what that rival into the final turn. With Irad...

According to agent Steve Rushing Monday, Irad Ortiz, Jr. escaped serious injury and all tests came back negative after the rider was from his mount Mindframe (Constitution), who swerved to avoid the wayward Phileas Fogg in Sunday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. According to the NYRA track note's team, Ortiz Jr. was cleared to ride, however, opted to take a few extra days. He had been slated to ride in all 11 races on closing day at Saratoga Monday. "I want to thank everyone for all the calls and texts...

If one could look up the word 'workmanlike' in racing's lexicon, it surely would have a picture of Alonso Daniel's Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator). And the 6-year-old one again proved that he fits the bill with a professional one-length score over Midnight Mammoth (Midnight Lute) in the GII Hollywood Gold Cup on Santa Anita's Memorial Day card. Installed the 4-5 choice following a third in the nine-furlong GII Oaklawn Handicap Apr. 19, the two-time GII Charles Town Classic winner broke cleanly and settled in an even-tempo fifth as Packs a Wahlop (Creative...

This is trainer Todd Pletcher's eighth Eclipse Award and the fourth for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., as the pair return to the stage to once again accept these respective honors. TODD PLETCHER It's not easy being Todd Pletcher. Not because it's difficult to employ a battalion of employees and run a vast operation across multiple jurisdictions. And not because he is graced with a power-packed group of runners that many of his contemporaries might offer their first borns to get even a single nugget from the expansive collection of equine...