Irad Ortiz Jr. wins seven consecutive races on Friday card

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Superstar jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. equaled a long-standing riding record Friday at Gulfstream Park when booting home seven winners on a nine-race card.

Jockeys have won seven on a Gulfstream card on five prior occasions, but Ortiz is the first to win that many races in a row on the same program. Jerry Bailey, in 1996, was the first to win seven here. He was followed by Tyler Gaffalione (2017), Luis Saez (twice in 2018), and Paco Lopez (2020).

Ortiz had mounts in all nine Friday races. After finishing fifth in the first race on favored Maclin, he reeled off the following wins: Dignified ($7.20) in race 2, Little Jewel ($4.20) in race 3, Lakota Territory ($5.60) in race 4, Riveting Spirit ($7) in race 5, Tape to Tape ($4.20) in race 6, Rhymes Like Dimes ($4.40) in race 7, and Six Minus ($7.40) in race 8. Four of those were favorites, with Dignified, Lakota Territory, and Six Minus being second choices.

“Everything worked out so well today, and I’m thankful,” Ortiz said after Six Minus rallied to win the eighth for Todd Pletcher.

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Ortiz’s bid for a record-breaking eighth was foiled when Turn on the Charm failed to threaten when seventh at 5-2 in the race-9 nightcap.

Ortiz, a 30-year-old native of Puerto Rico, recently was honored with the Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey of 2022, marking the fourth time in five years he has won the award. His mount earnings of more than $37 million last year is an all-time record.

Ortiz previously had ridden as many as six winners on a Gulfstream card when doing so Feb. 6, 2021. He is represented by agent Steve Rushing.

The record for most wins for a jockey on one North American program was set on June 4, 2005, when Eddie Castro won with nine of 11 mounts on a 13-race card at Calder. The late Chris Antley also won nine in one day in 1987, riding four at Aqueduct in the afternoon and five more that night at the Meadowlands.

Six jockeys have won eight on a card in North America, the latest being Ken Shino at Fonner Park in 2000 and Pat Day at Arlington in 1989.

Overseas, Frankie Dettori swept a seven-race card at Ascot in England on Sept. 28, 1996.

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