Ortiz flaunts talent in Belmont Stakes ride

ELMONT, N.Y. – The 2016 Belmont Park meet has belonged to Jose Ortiz. Belmont Stakes Day belonged to his brother Irad.

Irad Ortiz Jr., 23, won his first American classic on Saturday, giving Creator a flawless ride to win the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes. Ortiz rallied Creator from 10th position to nip Destin by a nose in the final stride. A day later, Ortiz was still living in the moment.

“Great feeling, great race,” Ortiz said Sunday morning after working a horse on turf for his main client, Chad Brown. “I’m feeling so blessed right now, it’s amazing.”

Ever since his mentor, Ramon Dominguez, was forced to retire due to head injuries suffered in a 2013 spill, Ortiz has ascended to the top of the New York jockey colony. Ortiz has led the New York Racing Association circuit in wins the last two years, with his younger brother Jose in second. In 2015, Irad Ortiz Jr. won his first Saratoga riding title, and last fall he won his first two Breeders’ Cup races.

But this victory on Creator might have eclipsed those achievements.

“It’s the biggest race we have here at Belmont,” he said. “I’m here all year in New York, I start my career here. To win that race means a lot. Maybe it’s better for my business, maybe not. We hope it helps us a little bit.”

Ortiz’s business doesn’t need too much help. He has the backing of top trainers like Brown. Nationally through Sunday, Ortiz ranked third in races won (137) and purse money earned ($9.5 million). Jose Ortiz is first in wins (171) and second in purses ($9.6 million). Three-time Eclipse Award winner Javier Castellano, who has 140 wins, leads all riders with $10.1 million in purse earnings.

Irad Ortiz finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby on My Man Sam. He did not ride in the Preakness and was without a Belmont mount until trainer Steve Asmussen summoned him to ride Creator, who finished 13th in the Kentucky Derby under Ricardo Santana Jr.

Asmussen told Ortiz to watch the Kentucky Derby, where Creator ran into traffic trouble and finished 13th. “He’s better than that; don’t count that race,” Ortiz said Asmussen told him.

In the Belmont, Creator became the first horse to win the race from post 13, although it’s just the seventh time there had been at least that many horses in the race since the advent of the starting gate.

Ortiz said Asmussen told him Creator may break slowly, but that might help to save ground. Sure enough, an eighth of a mile into the race, Ortiz had maneuvered Creator from post 13 to the No. 2 path, though he was in 10th place. An eighth of a mile later, Ortiz had Creator on the rail.

Creator advanced steadily into contention down the backside, and leaving the half-mile pole, he was sixth. At the three-eighths pole, Ortiz guided Creator off the rail, and turning for home, he was behind horses and looking for a place to run.

Ortiz thought about going to the outside, but at that point, Exaggerator was slowing down, and Ortiz would have had to wait precious seconds to get out and go around. When Destin spurted away in upper stretch, Creator still had Stradivari to his outside and Governor Malibu to his inside. Governor Malibu came off the rail near the eighth pole and tightened things up, but Ortiz was able to get Creator through and set sail after Destin, catching him in the last jump.

“Exaggerator started getting tired, and I didn’t have anywhere to go, so I’m waiting for room,” Ortiz said. “I have horse. I see Destin pick it up, and I say, ‘That’s the one I have to follow,’ then when I get in the clear, he took off.”

Asmussen, who won his first Belmont Stakes, summed it up perfectly at a postrace press conference when he said of Ortiz’s ride: “I thought he saved yards and won by inches. He made the difference.”

Following the Belmont, Ortiz won the last two races on the card. He won Sunday’s first race, giving him four consecutive victories. For the weekend, Ortiz won seven races, giving him 35 for the meet.

However, his brother Jose has ridden 57 winners through the first 31 days of this 54-day meet.

“He’s doing so good right now,” Irad said of Jose. “He’s got good business. All the best to him. He’s humble, he works hard – he deserves it.”

But with a terrific ride, Irad Ortiz deserved to win the meet’s biggest race.