Ortiz Jr. Earns Repeat Honor as Outstanding Jockey
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Photo: Photos by Z
Irad Ortiz Jr. was named outstanding jockey for the second year in a row
In 2018 Irad Ortiz Jr. joined an exclusive club when honored with an Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey. Having repeated in 2019, he’s in even more select company.
As a multiple winner, he becomes one of just 12 riders to have accomplished the feat since the Eclipse Awards began in 1971, joining Hall of Famers Angel Cordero Jr., Braulio Baeza, Garrett Gomez, Javier Castellano, Jerry Bailey, John Velazquez, Kent Desormeaux, Laffit Pincay Jr., Mike Smith, Pat Day, and Ramon Dominguez.
None of them experienced the earnings success Ortiz had in 2019. No other rider ever has.
In 2019 Ortiz became the first jockey to surpass the $30 million mark in earnings, blowing past the threshold with a record $34,109,019. Instrumental was his success at the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park, where he won four races, including the two richest events, the $4 million Longines Turf (G1T) on Bricks and Mortar and the $6 million Longines Classic (G1) on Vino Rosso .
He also won the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) on Spun to Run and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) on Four Wheel Drive.
The Puerto Rican-born Ortiz, 27, notched meet titles at the championship meet at Gulfstream Park and at the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack. He led all other jockeys in wins with 324—the fifth straight year he has won 300 or more races. 62 of those 2019 victories came in stakes, highest in North America, and his 35 graded stakes victories were second only to Javier Castellano’s 36.