Irad Ortiz Jr. wins 3,000th race; suspended five days for previous day's ride
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. notched the 3,000th win of his stellar riding career in North America when guiding Order and Law to a 4 1/4-length triumph in the fourth race Thursday at Gulfstream Park.
Order and Law, a 6-year-old ridgling trained by Mike Maker, raced in mid-pack in the one-mile turf race before circling rivals and drawing clear in the final furlong. He paid $7.20. The victory came some 30 minutes after Ortiz drew within one win of the milestone by riding Pirate Life ($9) 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 maintaining statistics.
Meanwhile, Ortiz has been handed a five-day suspension by the Gulfstream stewards stemming from the disqualification of his mount, Princess Cupid, from first to third in the sixth race Wednesday. Specific dates had not yet been determined as of Thursday afternoon, according to association steward Steve DiMauro. A rider has 72 hours from the time of notification to declare whether he or she will appeal the penalty.
Ortiz returned to riding at Gulfstream on Jan. 6 after serving a 30-day suspension 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.
Ortiz, 29, is a three-time Eclipse Award winner (2018 through 2020) for outstanding jockey.