Irad Ortiz Jr. to resume riding at Gulfstream Park

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Irad Ortiz Jr., leading jockey at the Gulfstream Park Championship meet who has not ridden since March 19 due to the coronavirus pandemic, will return to the saddle starting Saturday at Gulfstream Park, his agent, Steve Rushing, said Sunday.

Ortiz cited concerns for the safety of his family in light of the coronavirus pandemic as the reason he would cease riding on March 19. Ortiz, who was scheduled to ride Portos for trainer Todd Pletcher two days later in the Louisiana Derby, won two races on his final day in the saddle.

Those wins ultimately turned out to be his final margin of victory over Luis Saez in defense of his Gulfstream Park Championship meet riding title, which he won 115-113, despite missing the final eight days of racing at the meet.

According to Rushing, the plan is for Ortiz, the two-time defending Eclipse Award champion, to ride at Gulfstream Park on a regular basis until racing resumes in New York at a date still to be determined.

Despite sitting out the last month, Ortiz remains the leading money-winning rider in the nation in 2020 with purse earnings totaling more than $5.28 million. His most significant victory so far in 2020 came aboard Mucho Gusto in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

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