Aqueduct: Ortiz brothers combine for seven wins, including Turnofthecentury Stakes

Adam Coglianese/NYRA

Irad Ortiz Jr. collects his fourth straight win of Sunday's card aboard favored Brigand in the Turnofthecentury Stakes for New York-breds.

Apparently, combining to win six races on one card wasn’t good enough for the Ortiz brothers.

So on Sunday, jockeys Jose and Irad did themselves one better.

 The Ortiz brothers combined to win seven races - the first seven - on Sunday’s nine-race card at Aqueduct. Jose won the first three and Irad won the next four - capped by a front-running victory in the $75,000 Turnofthecentury Stakes. Irad went 4 for 5 while Jose went 3 for 7.

On Saturday, Irad and Jose Ortiz won three races each with Jose being denied a fourth by a nose in the nightcap.

The Ortiz brothers are now 1-2 in Aqueduct’s inner track jockey standings with Jose having 40 and wins and Irad 33. Irad missed a week due to a sprained ankle.

Jose won the first three aboard Bellamy ($3.40), Rocket Hero ($9.50), and Unbridled Logic ($4.50).

Irad won the next four with Now and Then ($3.70),  Bail Out the Banks ($4.40), Nothing But Air ($9.80), and Brigand ($3.40).

“We did good, but we rode good horses today,” said Jose, who enjoyed his sixth three-win day since Nov. 29. “We got lucky, thank God, and the horses won.”

Jose was scheduled to lose his apprentice status on Jan. 29. But due to an injury he sustained during the summer, he will get an extension until March 15.

For the second straight day, Irad won Aqueduct’s featured race on a mount he picked up for the injured Ramon Dominguez after his own mount scratched.

In the Turnofthecentury, restricted to New York-breds, Brigand got loose on the lead and defeated Mine Over Matter by 2 3/4 lengths. Brigand, a son of Flatter trained by Bob Baffert, ran a mile in 1:36.70 and returned $3.40.

 “I had a lot of horse,” Irad Ortiz said, adding that Tonja Terranova, who has overseen the training of the horse for Baffert, “did a good job with the horse. I broke good out of there, like Tonja told me to do. I put him in front, and he relaxed and had a comfortable trip.”

Commenting about the seven-win day for he and his brother, Irad said Sunday “has been a good experience for [me and my brother]. We try in every race, and today we got good horses.”

 Three of those good horses were supplied by Bruce Levine, who had his own three-win day with Rocket Hero, Unbridled Logic, and Nothing But Air.

 Levine has won with eight of his last 14 starters at Aqueduct and his 15 wins have put him atop the trainer standings by one over Rudy Rodriguez and the now-suspended Richard Dutrow Jr.