Jockey Jose Ortiz had a whirlwind year in 2016. He led all North American-based jockeys in wins with 351. He won his first Breeders’ Cup race, aboard Oscar Performance. And, she said, “Yes!”

Ortiz became engaged to fellow rider Taylor Rice in June and the couple was married in December.

Ortiz, a 23-year-old native of Puerto Rico, is based in New York. For his breakout year on the track, he is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding jockey of 2016.

Javier Castellano is bidding for a fourth consecutive Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey after leading all North American-based riders in both mount earnings and graded stakes wins in 2016. Castellano’s year included a Longines Kentucky Oaks victory with Cathryn Sophia, a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf win with New Money Honey, and a standout turf mount in Flintshire.

Kenny Troutt’s WinStar Farm has accomplished more in the past 16 years than operations several times older achieve over the span of their existence.

Last year was one of the best yet for the Versailles, Ky., farm, highlighted by a pair of Breeders’ Cup winners and the most wins and earnings by a North American breeder.

WinStar Farm finished the year with 238 winners and combined earnings of $10,503,297 in 2016, making it the only operation to surpass the $10 million threshold.

Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum has a presence in nearly every corner of the global Thoroughbred industry, and the North American wing of his Darley breeding operation once again proved to be among the best on the continent in 2016.

The ruler of Dubai was represented by 110 North American winners as a breeder in 2016, and his farm’s earnings of $6,819,154 ranked third.

The past four years have produced breakthrough after breakthrough for the Cleary family’s Clearsky Farms, all from a broodmare band much smaller than most of its contemporaries.

In 2013, the Lexington, Ky., farm was represented by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner New Year’s Day. The following year, Clearsky consigned eventual Grade 2 winner Mohaymen as a yearling for a sale-topping $2.2 million at the Keeneland September auction and followed that up in 2015 with Kentucky Derby runner-up Firing Line.

Total handle on U.S. races in 2016 was nominally equal to the figure from 2015, according to figures released by Equibase on Thursday, with wagering growing 0.6 percent to $10.74 billion.

Although the growth has been miniscule and has not exceeded the core inflation rate, handle on U.S. races has now increased nominally for two years in a row. Handle on U.S. races had not increased two years in a row since 2003, when the growth rates were similarly shallow following a strong run-up in wagering during the emergence of full-card simulcasting in many racing states.

Arrogate and California Chrome battled it out in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and are the leading contenders for Horse of the Year after they were named as two of the three finalists for the year’s top honor – along with the 3-year-old filly Songbird – when the three finalists in each of 11 equine and six human Eclipse Award categories were announced on Thursday.

Parx Racing averaged $1.46 million a day in handle during 2016, an increase of 5 percent over the average of $1.39 million in 2015, according to Sam Elliott, the track’s director of racing.

Parx raced 157 days in 2016, 45 fewer than in 2015.

Parx averaged 7.96 horses per race, according to Elliott, a slight increase over the 7.92 average in 2015.

Parx was under an equine herpesvirus quarantine from April 1 until May 17.

Trainer Mary Eppler and jockey Jevian Toledo topped the standings at the Laurel Park fall meet, which began Sept. 9 and concluded Saturday. The title was the first of Eppler’s career and the third for Toledo, who won the title at last summer’s Laurel meet and at the fall meet a year ago.

Eppler had an amazing meet, winning 24 of 86 starts (28 percent). She began the meet slowly and didn’t win until her 11th starter but finished on a 12-for-33 run.

Eppler had a career year in both wins (49) and purse earnings ($1.76 million).

Veteran trainer Frank Kirby was handed a one-year suspension after one of his runners tested positive for methamphetamine, but Kirby claims the contamination was environmental and has appealed the ruling.

The Illinois Racing Board suspended Kirby for all of 2017 after All My Secrets, the second-place finisher in the first race Nov. 4 at Hawthorne, returned a positive test for methamphetamine.