Irad Ortiz Jr. off to strong start after heading to Kentucky
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Fresh off claiming his fourth consecutive leading rider title, and seventh overall, at the summer Saratoga meet, Irad Ortiz Jr. moved his tack from New York to Kentucky for the fall season. Unsurprisingly, the five-time Eclipse Award winner is off to a strong start at the Churchill Downs September meet that began last Thursday.
On Saturday’s big program, Ortiz rode a pair of stakes winners – Taken by the Wind for trainer Kenny McPeek in the Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes, the first points race toward the 2026 Kentucky Oaks; and the comebacking Bentornato, who now becomes a key Breeders’ Cup Sprint candidate for Jose D’Angelo, in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society.
“It feels great just to get here and to have a few winners already,” Ortiz said Saturday.
In fact, Ortiz rode five winners for five different trainers through the first four days of the meet. He won races for Brad Cox and Norm Casse on Thursday’s opening night, followed by his stakes scores on Saturday. He then added a win for Mike Maker on Sunday.
“They always support me, honestly,” Ortiz said of the backing. “I can’t complain about that.”
Ortiz and his younger brother, two-time Churchill Downs leading rider Jose Ortiz, are both represented by agent Steve Rushing.
Tyler Gaffalione won four races on Friday – his 31st birthday – and three races Saturday, including the Grade 2 Locust Grove aboard Royal Spa, to lead the Churchill Downs colony through the first four days of the September meet with eight wins. Jose Ortiz has ridden seven winners, and Irad Ortiz Jr. and Luis Saez are next with their five wins apiece.
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