Irad Ortiz Jr. suspended March 2-9; can ride in Fountain of Youth Day stakes
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will be sidelined for much of next week and beyond – with the notable exception of the Saturday stakes – after being suspended five days by the Gulfstream stewards for the disqualification of his mount, Princess Cupid, from first to third in the sixth race here Wednesday.
Ortiz will sit out the following cards – March 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9. Most suspensions for riding infractions are only for three days, but what was taken into account in this latest incident was the fact an Ortiz winner had been disqualified Feb. 18 without him being suspended.
Ortiz is being allowed to ride Saturday, albeit only in stakes. Stewards in Florida and other jurisdictions are permitted to make this specific contingency and to use discretion in meting out penalties, especially in cases whereby lengthy and costly appeals and delays can be avoided, according to association steward Steve DiMauro.
Meanwhile, Ortiz notched the 3,000th win of his stellar career in North America when he guided Order and Law to a 4 1/4-length triumph in the fourth race Thursday at Gulfstream. The victory came some 30 minutes after Ortiz drew within one win of the milestone by riding Pirate Life to a half-length score in the day’s third race.
The 3,000 wins, as reported by Equibase, does not include the 95 races won by Ortiz in his native Puerto Rico early in his career. For the record, Daily Racing Form includes those 95 wins in its statistics.
Ortiz, 29, is a three-time Eclipse Award winner (2018 through 2020) for outstanding jockey and has led the continent in the races-won category every year since 2017.
Ortiz returned to riding at Gulfstream on Jan. 6 after serving a 30-day suspension for two cases of rough riding dating from early December at Aqueduct. After missing two weeks with a deep knee bruise suffered Jan. 7, he won the $3 million Pegasus World Cup with Life Is Good and the $1 million Pegasus Turf with Colonel Liam on Jan. 29.