A rising star at 17, Yomar Ortiz Jr. shines in first week at Churchill
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On the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 4, jockey Yomar Ortiz Jr. had a busy five-day racing week ahead of him at Churchill Downs − one mount for every one of his 17 years.
Ortiz rode his first sanctioned Thoroughbred race on Oct. 14 at Keeneland. As of last Wednesday morning, he had two winners from his first 29 mounts.
“I knew I had a lot of entries. Going into the week I was telling myself if I get two winners, that’s an accomplishment,” Ortiz said.
By Wednesday evening, Ortiz had reached his goal: Two rides on the Nov. 4 card, two winners.
Ortiz rode another winner from four mounts Thursday. On Friday, he rode five races and won three of them. Another winner from three Saturday mounts, and on Sunday, three rides, two more winners.
Ortiz ended the week 9 for 17 and enters the fourth racing week of his entire career second behind Luis Saez in the Churchill jockey standings.
“I feel very grateful,” Ortiz said in a Tuesday telephone interview. “The horses are running for me; the trainers are giving me the opportunities.”
Nine winners in a week at a major race meet: Hard for a 17-year-old with a lifetime ambition of riding races to even dream that up. Ortiz’s father, Yomar Orlando Ortiz, still plies the trade in Maryland, where the younger Ortiz spent a large portion of his childhood. The elder Ortiz has ridden seven winners during 2026.
The torrent of wins – hard to believe. The nature of them – even more implausible.
Ortiz looks great on a horse, a natural lightweight who can tack 105 pounds. Already, he smoothly switches sticks in the homestretch and keeps his mounts on a straight course. And tactically, Ortiz is off the charts.
Horsemen typically employ 10-pound apprentice riders to pilot speed horses. Exactly one of Ortiz’s 17 mounts last week led at the first call. Ortiz fanatically saves ground. He came up the fence with two of his first three winners last week and waited patiently for the rail to open for 14-1 shot Joe Joe Dude, second in the second race on Nov. 5. Fourteen of the 17 horses he rode last week rode the rail around the far turn, and Ortiz never strayed more than two paths from the fence until he’d straightened for home.
“I was in the jocks room every day that they had racing at Laurel. My dad would ride a race, he’d come back, and I’d sit in a corner, listen to them watch the replays and talk about what they could have done differently,” Ortiz said. “Basically, from Day 1, I was taught the shortest way around is the rail. If you save ground, you’re going to have a big advantage.”
Somehow, Ortiz already has a sense of when to hug the rail into the homestretch knowing a path will open inside, and when to get off the fence and out into the clear. That’s how – wearing Godolphin’s royal blue silks − he won the 11th race on Nov. 7, a 2-year-old maiden turf route, with the Eoin Harty-trained Cartography. Ortiz calls that his best ride in a turf race so far. Keep in mind, he’s only ridden seven of them.
“A lot is how much racing I’ve watched. I’ve watched so many horse racing replays since I was six years old. I don’t mean this the wrong way, and I never thought it would be like this, but everything that’s been going on, it’s come easy. I could be sitting behind a horse, and I’m just like, I gotta get out of here,” Ortiz said.
That’s no brag. Ortiz has personality to match ability. Humble, respectful, eager to learn.
“It’s all just second nature to him as far as decision making,” trainer Joe Sharp said. “He’s been a student of the game since he could talk, is what I understand. I’ve had a lot of interactions with lots of young riders – this kid’s just different. He’s very much the full package.”
Ortiz has lived with Sharp and his family, and Sharp said that his son, Carson, idolized Ortiz when both boys were riding pony races. Two summers ago, Sharp pitched Ortiz on the idea of coming to Fair Grounds last winter as an exercise rider for his stable.
“We have horses of all different kinds: Babies, claiming horses, stakes horses. I told him he’d get to work a ton of horses at all levels,” Sharp said.
Sharp got Ortiz started and put him on four winners last week, but Ortiz also won races for five other outfits, including trainers Brad Cox and Saffie Joseph Jr.
Ortiz, who became a seven-pound apprentice Nov. 5, hasn’t entirely short-circuited the learning curve. On Nov. 7, HISA issued rulings against him for overuse of the crop in two races on Nov. 1. The first violation incurred a one-day suspension, Nov. 14, the second two days, Nov. 18-19. Ortiz’s agent, Steve Rushing, said Ortiz has filed an appeal that will allow him to ride Nov. 14, when Ortiz has seven mounts lined up on the Claiming Crown card at Churchill.
“I’m just starting out, and there’s a lot of adrenaline. It’s all learning experiences. I don’t think it will affect me. Just have to make sure to count,” Ortiz said.
The rules permit six pops of the crop. The 17-year-old with the nine-winner week will figure that one out before long.
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