Jockey Irad Ortiz has Pumpkin Pie double aboard Truth Hurts, Lady Rocket
Jockey Irad Ortiz got all the candy on Halloween at Belmont Park when he won both $100,000 divisions of the Pumpkin Pie Stakes. He captured the races with Truth Hurts and Lady Rocket.
“They split the race, so I got lucky I ended up on the right two horses,” Ortiz said.
The Pumpkin Pie divisions were for fillies and mares at seven furlongs and both were contested over a sloppy, sealed track.
Truth Hurts ($17.60) had been pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, but the decision was made to keep her at Belmont for the Pumpkin Pie. She went in the first division, and after trouble at the start raced off fractions of 22.67 seconds for the opening quarter and 46.40 for the half-mile. In the stretch, she shuttled home to win by two lengths over Never Enough Time, covering the distance in 1:24.99.
“She broke a step slow,” Ortiz told the publicity department at Belmont. “I got a little squeezed, so I went to Plan B. I left her alone where she was comfortable, and she came running. Plan A was to try and stay close. I knew some other horses had speed, but she’s been up close before in sprint races.
“I got some room to go on the inside. I asked her and she went forward and kept doing it. She responded really well.”
Truth Hurts is a daughter of Tonalist who races for her trainer, Chad Summers, and J Stables. She earned $55,000 on Sunday to improve her career record to 4 for 13 for earnings of $262,075. Truth Hurts won her second career stakes race Sunday, behind the Perfect Sting in July at Belmont.
Summers told publicity Truth Hurts is a candidate for the Grade 3, $250,000 Go for Wand on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct.
In the second division, Lady Rocket ($5.20) dueled with Always Carina, then had enough in the stretch to just hold off the closing bid of Glass Ceiling. Lady Rocket won by a head over Glass Ceiling. It was another 3 1/4 lengths back in third to Lake Avenue.
Lady Rocket and Always Carina raced together through an opening quarter in 23.22 seconds and a half-mile in 46.70. Lady Rocket shook her pace pal in the stretch and went on to cover the distance in 1:24.11.
“I was just looking at the wire, trying to get there and keep riding hard and straightforward,” Ortiz said. “I concentrated on the win, so I just kept riding. She gave me everything she had."
Lady Rocket came into the Pumpkin Pie off a runner-up finish to Bella Sofia, who is pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
Lady Rocket is a daughter of Tale of the Cat who races for Frank Fletcher and Ten Strike Racing. She has now won 5 of 10 starts for earnings of $393,008.