Jose Ortiz makes amends with My Sister Nat in Waya
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Jockey Jose Ortiz gave a little fist pump at the wire after putting up a picture-perfect ride to get My Sister Nat to the finish line a neck in front of the favored Mrs. Sippy in Saturday’s Grade 3 Waya. And rightly so, My Sister Nat’s victory provided a little redemption for Ortiz, who had been disqualified from first and placed third after seemingly having won the Grade 3 Troy aboard Imprimis just thirty minutes earlier.
“I feel really bad for Joe [Orseno] and the team, [Imprimis] was much the best, but I made a mistake and couldn’t keep a straight course in the last race,” said Ortiz immediately after the Waya. “I cost them the race and I really feel bad about it. But here, I felt like I gave a great ride for Chad. We saved ground in the first two turns, and in the third we started looking for a place to go, and I’m glad it all worked out. She’s a really nice filly, has been knocking on the door, Chad and Mr. Brant" -- [owner Peter Brant] -- "have been very patient and it really paid off. She’s got a lot of heart.”
My Sister Nat entered the 12-furlong Waya still seeking her first win in the U.S. in her sixth try, although she had finished second in the Grade 3 Long Island and Grade 2 New York in each of her last two starts, with Ortiz aboard on both occasions.
In the Waya, Ortiz allowed My Sister Nat to settle near the rear of the field but within easy striking distance of her stablemate Fools Gold, who was allowed to set a very leisurely pace. My Sister Nat saved ground for a mile and a quarter, swung four wide to commence her bid entering the stretch, overtook the leader near midstretch, then withstood a final try from Mrs. Sippy. The latter also saved ground early while racing just in front of the ultimate winner, split horses with her bid through the final furlong, and just missed while making her first start since the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Fools Gold, who like the winner is trained by Chad Brown, held on willingly after relinquishing the lead, finishing another 1 1/2 lengths farther back in third.
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My Sister Nat is a half-sister to 2018 female turf champion Sistercharlie, who also is owned by Brant. She paid $6.90 after completing the distance over a firm course in 2:30.26.
“Jose came to the paddock with a really good plan, to do his best to stay closer today, and he found the right horse to follow, the 1" -- Mrs. Sippy -- "which was smart,” said Brown. “We stayed with the pack today, didn’t let her fall too far back. Jose deserves a lot of credit for that.”
Brown said he was grateful to Brant for keeping My Sister Nat in training for another season.
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“Being a half-sister to Sistercharlie, it would have been easy to retire her,” said Brown. “We found last year it took her all the way to the end of the year to really acclimate and to finally get her around three turns, and when we did for the first time in the Long Island at Aqueduct, she should have won. This was only her second three-turn race, and you saw what she could do.”
Brown also praised the effort of Fools Gold, making only her second start of the season in the Waya.
“She obviously got very tired in her first start back in the New York,” said Brown. “She was one of those horses who got disrupted by the pandemic and she was a much fitter horse today. She got away with some easy fractions, but she dug in and I’m proud of her.”