Ortiz targeting Aug. 22 return from foot injury

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will be off until Aug. 22 due to swelling and soreness in his left foot as the result of an incident that occurred prior to the seventh race on Aug. 8 at Saratoga.

The hope is for Ortiz to be back in time to ride Counting Stars in the Grade 1 Alabama on the Aug. 22 card, agent Steve Rushing said.

“The swelling has to come down and he’s still tender,” Rushing said Wednesday. “Obviously, the 22nd isn’t guaranteed but it’s a pretty safe date, two weeks from the accident. He’s seeing improvement, but it’s still pretty swelled up.”

Ortiz was injured when his horse And the Runner Is ran off with him when Ortiz took him away from the pony in an attempt to warm the horse up prior to the seventh race on Aug. 8. The horse bolted for the outside rail, and Ortiz’s foot hit the rail. And The Runner Is was scratched, and Ortiz was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which were negative.

Ortiz has won the last four Saratoga riding titles and seven overall. He missed eight of the first 10 cards of this meet due to a combination of suspensions and riding engagements at other tracks.

Ortiz, who won six races on July 25 at Saratoga, has ridden 30 winners from 126 mounts, which puts him fourth in the standings, 10 behind his brother Jose.

Prat serving days

Flavien Prat, the second-leading rider at the meet with 38 wins, is serving a three-day suspension (Wednesday through Friday) for a riding violation from July 17.

Prat was aboard Sandtrap who finished third in the De La Rose Stakes. Sandtrap, under Prat’s right-handed whip, came in at the eighth pole and bumped Deep Satin, who finished sixth. Though there was a stewards’ inquiry, no action was taken.

Prat, the reigning two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey, leads all riders at the meet with seven stakes victories and is tied with Irad Ortiz Jr. for most graded stakes wins (5).