After a close battle with brother Irad Ortiz Jr. through the final days of the 40-day spring-summer meet at Belmont Park, jockey Jose Ortiz secured the leading riding title Sunday, finishing the meet one win ahead, with 59 total victories.
Ortiz, a 29-year-old native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, celebrated his 12th overall meet riding title. He also was the leading rider on the New York Racing Association circuit in 2016, 2020 and 2021.
Ortiz closed out the meet with a record of 246: 59-44-38 and total purse earnings of $4,921,926, putting him at a win rate of 23.98 percent and in-the-money percentage of 57.32.
“It was very fun – it’s great,” said Ortiz, who also won the 2021 Belmont spring-summer title with 59 wins. “I work very hard in the mornings and I receive good opportunities from the owners and trainers, and I’m very thankful for that.”
Meet highlights for Ortiz included Grade 1 triumphs aboard Marketsegmentation for leading owner Klaravich Stables in the New York and with Far Bridge in the Belmont Derby Invitational. Ortiz also posted Grade 3 victories in the Intercontinental aboard Poppy Flower and in the Soaring Softly atop Queen Picasso, as well as an additional trio of stakes with Eye Witness, Maker’s Candy and Gold Sweep.
“It was a lot of wins, but definitely the Belmont Derby (Saturday) has to be my race of the meet,” said Ortiz. “It was a great trip, a great ride, and I had the horse – that was important.”
Ortiz said it was special to win several races for the meet’s leading trainer Linda Rice, who is the aunt of Ortiz’s wife, retired jockey Taylor (Rice) Ortiz.
“I’ve been riding for Linda a long time, and this meet I basically rode first call for her,” said Ortiz. “I’m glad she got leading trainer, and we did a pretty good job. Hopefully, we can continue doing so in Saratoga.”
