By Bill Finley
Donegal Racing, the co-owner of GI Belmont S. winner Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo), will give a stallion season in the colt to jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., who guided the horse to victory in the final leg of the Triple Crown, Donegal CEO Jerry Crawford revealed during his guest appearance on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast.
Crawford said that, going forward, any jockey winning a Grade I race aboard a Donegal horse will receive a stallion season for that horse.
“It's something we've done with trainers for a long time,” Crawford said. “We've been very supportive of our trainers and think doing something like this is very appropriate. We think that giving a season to any jockey that wins a Grade I for us is manageable from an expense standpoint and it recognizes the accomplishments by the best jockeys out there.”
Donegal owns Mo Donegal in partnership with Mike Repole.
Crawford said he was inspired to give stallion seasons to jockeys by efforts being made in California to do the same for riders. The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) is exploring a rule that would make it mandatory that a rider be given a season when winning a graded race aboard a future stallion. CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney told TDN that the proposal is part of an effort to keep high-profile riders from leaving the Southern California circuit for greener pastures.
“After I started thinking about it, I saw that the people out in California have been talking about this for a while,” Crawford said. “I spoke to (CHRB Vice Chairman) Oscar Gonzales about this and he said they were trying to get some momentum behind this. I thought that if we did this and it helped push things along in California that would be a good thing.”
Crawford said that Ortiz, who rode Tuesday at Royal Ascot, did not know about his intentions before the Belmont. Ortiz chose to ride Mo Donegal over stablemate Nest (Curlin), the filly who finished second in the Belmont.
“We got separated after the Belmont because I went to the press conference and Irad had to ride in the next race,” he said. “I spoke with him on Monday and told him about this and he was pleasantly surprised.”
When asked if a rider would get a season with each subsequent Grade I win after the first, Crawford replied: “I know we need to have an answer for that, but at the moment I don't.”
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