2018 Eclipse Awards: Jose Ortiz

It was a Grade 1 kind of year for jockey Jose Ortiz in 2018.

He won 10 such races aboard 10 different horses, with perhaps the most memorable victory coming on Dec. 1.

That’s when Patternrecognition won the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. It’s a race Ortiz will never forget. It came just hours after his wife, Taylor, gave birth to the couple’s son, Derek.

“My head is spinning around,” Ortiz told Daily Racing Form’s David Grening in the winner’s circle.

Ortiz, a 25-year-old native of Puerto Rico, won the Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey of 2017. He’s a finalist for 2018 after a year in which he led all of his North American-based peers in graded stakes victories, with 35. The success helped push Ortiz to $26,801,249 in mount earnings, ranking second to his older brother, jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Jose Ortiz won 264 races from 1,513 mounts, placing him fourth in wins in North America.

The run of Grade 1 success Ortiz had in 2018 included the Haskell Invitational aboard champion and regular mount Good Magic.

:: 2018 Eclipse Finalists: Profiles and photos for all categories

“When I asked him to go, he just exploded,” Ortiz told Daily Racing Form’s Jim Dunleavy in July.

Ortiz also won the Woodbine Mile on Oscar Performance.

“He’s one of the best horses in the barn,” Ortiz told Daily Racing Form’s Ron Gierkink.

Ortiz also won Grade 1 races with American Gal, Channel Maker, Complexity, Eskimo Kisses, Separationofpowers, Wow Cat, and Yoshida.