Irad Ortiz Jr. wins Bill Shoemaker Award at Breeders' Cup

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Irad Ortiz Jr. was the top points-earner as the recipient of the 16th Bill Shoemaker Award, given annually to the most outstanding jockey at the Breeders’ Cup.

Ortiz won two BC events, the Juvenile Fillies Turf on Newspaperofrecord and the Filly and Mare Sprint on Shamrock Rose, and finished in the top four in five other races from 13 mounts. Based on a 10-4-2-1 scoring system on first- through fourth-place finishes, he earned 35 points to narrowly edge Joel Rosario (32) and Javier Castellano (30).

This is the first Shoemaker Award for the New York-based Ortiz, whose mounts earned $2.7 million Friday and Saturday. By comparison, Rosario’s mounts earned more than $5.8 million as he won three Breeders’ Cup races – most notably the Classic on Accelerate – but his other mounts did not accumulate enough in-the-money points for him to get the award.

The Shoemaker was first awarded in 2003, shortly after the legendary rider died at age 72. Garrett Gomez won it four times, while John Velazquez and Mike Smith have won it three times each.

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