Injured jockey José Ortiz has taken off all of his Saratoga mounts this weekend and targeted Wednesday for a return to competition, according to his wife Taylor.
“The plan is for Wednesday, so that takes the pressure off,” she said. “He’s not in a hurry to test himself (Saturday).”
Ortiz suffered bruised ribs in the opening race Friday when his previously unraced 2-year-old mount Same Old Fears clipped heels with Foxhole, who was ridden by older brother Irad Ortiz Jr., unseating him at the finish line. Beyond some minor cuts and scrapes, the horses escaped unharmed.
Emergency medical personnel tended to Ortiz at trackside before he was transported by ambulance to Albany Medical Center. He was evaluated there and released.
“As of now it’s a bruise, and we’ll see how he manages,” Taylor Ortiz said. “But he woke up much more comfortable than I think either of us anticipated, so that was great.”
According to Taylor, no other issues have surfaced beyond discomfort in José’s ribcage. Tests did not reveal any other damage.
“Other than that, everything else is good,” she said.
There were no plans for further testing. Taylor said doctors did not suggest a timetable for José’s return, leaving that to his judgment.
“The doctor said, ‘It’s on your comfort,’ because all of his scans came back clean,” she said. “The CAT scan was clean. The X-rays were clean.”
José Ortiz, 29, won the Eclipse Award as the leading U.S.-Canada rider in 2017. He had been performing as well as he had at any point in his career before the frightening spill. He topped the jockey standings for the recently concluded spring-summer meet at Belmont Park.
