OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer John Ortiz will keep a string of 10 to 15 horses in New York this winter as he tries to establish a year-round presence here. The early returns are quite good. Ortiz has won three races from six starts at Aqueduct’s fall meet. The wins have come with New York-breds Doc Sullivan, Moe Eighty Eight, and Braverthanubelieve, all owned by Glenn Lostritto’s Tristar Farm. “We’re so thankful for the Lostritto family right now,” said Ortiz, whose brother Daniel is overseeing the Belmont Park-based division. “They’ve given us the opportunity to train some of their best horses. I’ve never dealt with New York-breds until now, and I’m telling you, I’m having so much fun – not only with the horses, but with the Lostritto family.” Doc Sullivan is the leader of Ortiz’s New York division. On Nov. 22, Doc Sullivan won the Thunder Rumble division of the New York Stallion Series. Doc Sullivan is entered in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Cigar Mile. On Wednesday, however, Ortiz said the horse is only 50-50 to run. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. When entries were taken Sunday, the forecast for Saturday included rain. Doc Sullivan is 4 for 7 over a sloppy track, including his 5 1/2-length victory in the Thunder Rumble. Saturday now looks to be cold but dry. Whether Doc Sullivan races on Saturday or not, Ortiz said he definitely wants to run him in the Alex Robb Stakes for New York-breds on Dec. 26. Ortiz would like to see Doc Sullivan get recognized as New York-bred champion older dirt male. “The horse came out of his last race in great shape,” Ortiz said. “The plan is to go to the Alex Robb. This race [the Cigar Mile] came up and the weather was going to favor him, so we decided to enter and take a look. We’re still thinking of running, but we want to make sure the weather plays out for him. We have a really good spot in the Alex Robb coming up.” Ortiz admitted that the entry-day defection from the Cigar Mile of probable favorite Rated by Merit was another reason to enter and take a look. Still, Ortiz sees a difficult race with the likes of graded stakes winners Phileas Fogg, Bishops Bay, and Crazy Mason in the field. If Doc Sullivan does run in the Robb, he could face a stablemate in Moe Eighty Eight, who won a statebred first-level allowance for Ortiz and Tristar by 8 1/2 lengths on Nov. 29, earning a 93 Beyer. That was Moe Eighty Eight’s first win on dirt. A gelding who raced mostly on turf, Moe Eighty Eight finished third in a division of the New York Stallion Series that was rained off the turf to the dirt in August at Saratoga. “He was doing so well on the turf, but now that the winter’s coming, we were very excited to let him go on the dirt,” Ortiz said. “I knew he was going to run well on the dirt, but I was not expecting that.” :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Braverthanubelieve, a 2-year-old daughter of Honest Mischief, will run in Saturday’s $500,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Series. She is coming off a debut victory Nov. 22. “A couple of weeks ago, we were talking about just going straight into the stakes race, but I’m glad we got to run her two weeks ago and got her maiden broke,” Ortiz said. “She did it so easily and so professionally. I think she fits this stakes race coming up. She still has more room to improve.” Ortiz also trains another promising New York-bred 2-year-old filly in Victory Hall, who won the Shesastonecoldfox Stakes on Nov. 10 at Finger Lakes. Ortiz, who trains that filly for a partnership that includes Twin Sports Racing and Cypresshead Racing, is pointing her to the East View Stakes for New York-breds in 2026. That race was run in February this year. The New York Racing Association has yet to announce race dates or a stakes schedule for 2026. Ortiz said Wednesday that he entered Quietside in Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Comely Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Earlier this year, Quietside won the Grade 3 Honeybee and Grade 2 Fantasy at Oaklawn before finishing sixth in the Kentucky Oaks on May 2. Quietside, a 3-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon owned and bred by John Ed Anthony’s Shortleaf Stable, was off six months before returning in the Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland, where she finished eighth. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages. “Coming back in a Grade 2 at Keeneland was a little bit of a reach, but she did get a start and I couldn’t be happier with the way she’s training right now,” Ortiz said.