Ortiz Out Rest of Kentucky Downs Meet With COVID-19
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Jockey Jose Ortiz after winning Alysheba Stakes aboard Maxfield at Churchill Downs
One of the nation's top riders, Jose Ortiz, will miss the remainder of the Kentucky Downs meet after contracting COVID-19, agent Jimmy Riccio said Sept. 8.
Ortiz rode this summer at Saratoga Race Course, where he finished third behind Luis Saez and his brother, Irad Ortiz Jr. He then traveled to Kentucky Downs, where he rode in seven races Sept. 6, the second day of the meet at the Franklin, Ky., track. He finished second with three mounts, including Somelikeithotbrown in the featured WinStar Mint Million Stakes (G3T).
"Yesterday, he wasn't feeling well and took a test, and it came up positive. It's not like he's doing really bad—congested and stuff like that," Riccio said Wednesday. "So he is going to be off the rest of the Kentucky Downs meet. We're just happy he's doing alright, and we'll be back for Belmont."
Daily Racing Form first reported the rider's setback on social media.
Kentucky Downs continues until Sept. 12. The Belmont Park meet at the rider's base in New York begins Sept. 16.
The Eclipse Award-winning jockey of 2017 during a year when he won the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) on Tapwrit and the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) on Good Magic , Ortiz currently ranks fifth among jockeys by North American earnings for 2021. He was replaced aboard his seven scheduled mounts Wednesday at Kentucky Downs.