Saez, Irad Ortiz dominate over weekend

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockeys Luis Saez and Irad Ortiz Jr. were both red hot over the weekend. Saez, who holds a commanding edge in the jockey standings with just two weeks left in the Championship meet, won four races Saturday and came back to register three victories, all aboard odds-on favorites, on Sunday’s card. Ortiz registered hat tricks on both days.

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A pair of promising 3-year-old maiden winners helped highlight the Saturday card, topped by the Todd Pletcher-trained aptly named Bright Future, who rallied to a 4 3/4-length debut win under Ortiz going a mile for which he was awarded a 91 Beyer Speed Figure. The original final time of the race was corrected to 1:35.14 after being hand-timed.

Earlier on the card, Vive Bien posted a 3 1/4-length wire-to-wire victory at six furlongs for which he received an 86 Beyer. Vive Bien had been purchased privately following his only previous start, a game second-place effort five weeks earlier at Tampa Bay Downs.