Irad Ortiz sticking around for winter

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Once a jockey establishes himself in New York, the rider typically heads south for the winter. Not so in the case of Irad Ortiz Jr., who will be based at Aqueduct for the winter, though he is likely to make several trips to Gulfstream Park.

Ortiz, who will be this circuit’s leading rider for the second straight year, plans to spend most of his winter at Aqueduct riding the inner track, which opens Dec. 9. Gulfstream Park’s meet opens Dec. 5.

“Right now, the plan is to do the same thing as last year, just stay here and travel to Gulfstream as needed,” said Steve Rushing, who represents Ortiz. “That’s what we did last year, and it worked out pretty well.”

Ortiz was the second-leading rider at the 2014-15 inner-track meet, 10 wins behind his younger brother Jose Ortiz. At Gulfstream, Irad Ortiz Jr. won eight races from 74 mounts. His main client is Chad Brown, who has the bulk of his better horses in south Florida but keeps a significant string in New York during the winter.

Ortiz entered Friday’s card with 258 wins on the New York Racing Association circuit this year, 50 more than Jose. In 2014, Ortiz won 278 races on this circuit.

Nationally, Ortiz ranks fourth in races won with 274 and second in purse-money earned with $21.8 million. Javier Castellano leads the nation in wins (310) and purse money won ($26.8 million).

Castellano, the reigning two-time Eclipse Award winner, will ride in New York through Friday before heading to south Florida.

◗ For the third time in four years, racing will be conducted on the main track through the first week in December. Aqueduct’s inner-track will open Dec. 9. NYRA officials are hoping to be able to continue carding turf races through Dec. 13, weather permitting.