Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. wins three on closing day, takes Belmont riding title

ELMONT, N.Y. - Irad Ortiz Jr. won three races on Sunday’s closing-day card to overtake Dylan Davis and finish the Belmont Park spring/summer meet as leading rider with 48 wins, one more than Davis.

Ortiz, who rode 111 fewer mounts than Davis, sealed the meet title when he rallied Queen of Bourbon to a narrow victory in a turf allowance race that was third-to-last of the meet. It was his sixth win over the final two days and 16th from his last 53 mounts. Davis won Sunday’s nightcap aboard Dream of a Day for his 47th win of the meet.

“It feels good when you win a title, we love to win a meet, it’s not easy, thank God we got it done today,” Ortiz said. “I knew it was not going to be easy. I told my agent [Steve Rushing] I want to win, so let’s work harder - he always does honestly, I don’t have to tell him anything. The trainers and owners gave me the right horses the last couple of weeks and we get there. It was great. Dylan had a great meet also. I did too.”

It was the third Belmont spring/summer meet title for Ortiz, who won this meet in 2020 and 2018.

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Ortiz finished as the leading rider in purse money won with $5,149,496 and in graded stakes wins (7), topped by the Belmont Stakes on Mo Donegal and Saturday’s Belmont Oaks on McKulick. Luis Saez won 11 stakes overall, one more than Ortiz.

Rounding out the top five were Manny Franco (40), Flavien Prat (33) and Joel Rosario and Luis Saez (31 apiece).

Meanwhile, Chad Brown won his seventh straight Belmont spring/summer meet trainer’s title. His 47 wins over the 44-day session established a Belmont spring/summer meet record, surpassing the 44 wins David Jacobson accrued at the 56-day meet in 2013. Of his 47 wins, 14 came in stakes including Saturday’s Grade 1 Belmont Oaks with McKulick. Brown won five Grade 1 stakes offered at Belmont. Brown led all trainers in purse money won with $5,776,633.

Christophe Clement had his best Belmont meet ever, winning 33 races. He was followed by Todd Pletcher (25), Rudy Rodriguez (22) and Rob Atras and Linda Rice (15 apiece).

Michael Dubb won the owner’s title 16-14 over Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables. Peter Brant (12), Repole Stable (7) and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing (7) completed the top five.

After three dark days, racing begins Thursday at Saratoga, a 40-day meet that runs through Labor Day.