Irad Ortiz boots home five winners on Saturday's card

Before Far From Over won the Withers Stakes, the star of Saturday’s card at Aqueduct was jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who won five races on the day.

Ortiz won the first three aboard American Progress ($8.30), Overthespeedlimit ($5.40), and the Grade 3 Toboggan on Salutos Amigos ($3.50). After losing his next two races, Ortiz won the sixth on Via Strata ($3.90) and the seventh on Lord Commander ($7.80).

Ortiz ended the program with a third-place finish on Classy Class in the Withers and a fifth-place finish on Wesern Tryst in the finale.

The five-win day should help Ortiz deal with the fact that he will begin serving a seven-day careless riding suspension on Monday.

He is eligible to return on Feb. 16 when there’s a good chance he will ride Salutos Amigos in the Grade 3, $250,000 General George Handicap at Laurel Park.