Joy goes from last to first in Perfect Sting
ELMONT, N.Y. - By being able to avoid trouble early, Irad Ortiz Jr. was able to celebrate late, guiding Joy from last to first in Friday’s $100,000 Perfect Sting Stakes at Belmont Park.
A race that began with a 10-horse field scratched down to five by post time due to a yielding turf course that prompted many trainers to decide not to run. The race essentially lost one more horse when the gates opened and Lady Ten reared up, prompting John Velazquez to jump off and stand on a ledge as Lady Ten ran around loose.
Lady Ten had an impact on the race though, streaking to the front and forcing several riders to be tentative. Ortiz, however, had Joy last of the group and basically out of harm’s way. Ortiz was forced to go widest of all in the stretch, but with clear run and under an aggressive left-handed whip, Joy swept by Mah Jong Maddnes to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Mah Jong Maddnes, who took over from Orion Moon in midstretch, finished second by a neck over the resurgent Waterway Run, the 4-5 favorite.
Ortiz said the loose horse impacted how the race was run “because you don’t know what she’s going to do.” Ortiz added he just let Joy settle where she was comfortable before asking her to run outside the quarter pole.
“I had to move a little earlier than what I wanted and went a little wide because the loose horse was in front,” said Ortiz, who added he noticed Junior Alvarado, on Orion Moon, “make a little move to try and keep the loose horse inside. I went around and when I make my move and I asked her and she took off.”
Joy covered the mile over yielding turf in 1:40.08. As the second-longest shot on the board at 11-1, Joy returned $24.
For Joy, a Maryland bred 4-year-old daughter of Pure Prize owned by Dark Hollow Farm and trained by Graham Motion, it was her fourth win from 14 career starts. Her last victory came nearly one year ago in the Christiana Stakes at Delaware Park.
For Ortiz, it was his second win on the card and 46th of the meet putting him one behind Javier Castellano for leading rider. However, Ortiz begins a three-day suspension Sunday which will likely cost him a chance at the title.