Irad Ortiz Jr.

After a Breeders' Cup run in the sun, trainer Chad Brown is back on his home turf--literally--for another graded race at Aqueduct. When the top conditioner has paired with red-hot jockey Flavien Prat over the past 60 days, the duo wins at a rock-solid clip of almost 25% out of 51 attempts. In Friday's GIII Pebbles Stakes, the Brown-Prat alliance tries to get Klaravich Stables's Oversubscribed (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) back into the winner's circle. As the 2-1 favorite on the morning-line here, the last time Brown booked Prat...

Irad Ortiz, Jr., a five-time Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Jockey, captured his 4,000th career win aboard Good Temper in Sunday's first race at Keeneland. Trained by Will Walden for owner Mark Stanley, Good Temper showed the way in the 1 1/16-mile dirt route for juvenile fillies, drawing off to win by 1 3/4-lengths as the odds-on favorite. "I just have to thank God first. I started in New York in 2011, and they opened their home for me, supported me big time every day," said Ortiz, Jr. to Keeneland...

As recently as 2015, it looked like Dylan Davis's career was stuck in neutral. He won just 57 races that year with earnings of $1,859,318. He was, at best, a middle-of-the-pack rider on the NYRA circuit. Fast forward to 2024 and a new Davis has emerged. With three months to go on the year he's already won 147 races and earned $11,318,656 and is on schedule to have the best year of his career. His win aboard Todd Pletcher trainee Tapit Trice (Tapit) in last Saturday's GII Woodward Stakes was...

The seven-day Kentucky Downs meet set another record for wagering, totaling $90,181,408 and up eight percent over last year, according to a press release from the track late Wednesday. That included a single-day record of $21,184,941 on the Saturday, Sept. 7 card featuring six graded stakes worth $2 million for Kentucky-breds ($1 million for others). As for the meet's leaders, jockey Tyler Gaffalione finished with nine wins, to pull even with Irad Ortiz Jr. for the riding title, while Brendan Walsh's sixth victory put him in a tie for the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In a summer like no other at Saratoga Race Course --words that are appropriate most every year--which concluded Monday, there was noteworthy change that blended nicely into the tradition that make America's most important race meet so popular. To wit: A year ago, the main story of the meet, was the number of catastrophic injuries - 14 - which horses suffered in training and competition. With even more strict safety measures in place, there was single racing fatality and one in training during the meeting. Though...

With 20 days down and 20 days to go for Saratoga 2024, the handle numbers are remarkably close to what NYRA posted in 2023. At the end of Wednesday's last race, $390,617,175 had been wagered on the meet, a 0.4 percent increase from the midway point of the 2023 meet. Last year's racing season was a trying one for NYRA as rain decimated parts of the meet. A total of $799,229,288 was bet on the 40 days of racing, a decline of 9 percent from 2022 figures. The wet weather...

Irad Ortiz Jr., currently North America's leading jockey based on victories and purse earnings, and first and second in those same categories at the current Saratoga Race Course meet, will serve a three-day suspension Aug. 14-16 stemming from the disqualification of his mount from a win in the seventh race there Aug. 1. Ortiz waived his right to an appeal, according to an Aug. 6 stewards' ruling posted on the New York State Gaming Commission website. The race in which Ortiz got disqualified was a 1 3/16-mile $25,000 starter-allowance. He...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Uncaged (Curlin) was unleashed in front of a big house at Saratoga Race Course on Whitney Day at Saratoga Race Course. And, at the end of the six-furlong $100,000 maiden special weight, Uncaged left no doubt. He and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. began revving up just outside the eighth pole and won going away by 1 3/4 lengths. Afterwards, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher and the ownership group of Repole Stable and WinStar Farm were more than pleased. Pedigree wise, you don't see Curlin progenies...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Here is what's next at Saratoga Race Course. Next (Not This Time) is. The 6-year-old gelding is the best long-distance dirt horse in the country, and, on Sunday, he'll attempt to prove it again when he runs in the $150,000 listed Birdstone Stakes at the Spa. If you want to see it, get to Saratoga early. The Birdstone is race No. 2 and has a scheduled post time of 1:44 p.m. A field of five is entered in the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone and Next is the overwhelming 1-9...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Last summer, we hardly knew Kentucky-based trainer Al Stall Jr. During the 40 days of the 2023 Saratoga meet, Stall came up with one win in 12 starts. It's a little different a year later. Four days into the Spa season and Stall has started three horses. He has won with two of them and finished second with the third. "This pays the bar tab and the food tab," Stall said inside his office at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch Sunday morning. "We have to start working...

SARATOGA, NY-Sunday morning brought a stark contrast to the previous day, with the skies opening up for several hours over the region. Like many others, the Todd Pletcher squad went out for some light work given the challenging conditions, creating a far more sedate overall atmosphere as opposed to the frenetic activity raging through Saratoga only a day earlier. In Saturday's GI Belmont S., Pletcher saddled a trio of runners in the Triple Crown's final jewel, with TDN Rising Star Mindframe (Constitution) just falling short by a half-length to winner...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY-Trainer Chad Brown was widely expected to win Friday's GI Just a Game S. However, the actual winner of the race proved to be a bit of question as the trainer was represented by five of seven of the runners in the one-mile turf event. After surviving a jockey's claim of foul, it was 4-1 chance Chili Flag (Fr) (Cityscape {GB}) who rose over the $1-million mark in earnings while annexing her first career Grade I-victory. Breaking well but eased to the back, Chili Flag was unhurried as...