Brown, Klaravich, Ortiz Jr. Win Fall Titles at Belmont

While the Breeders' Cup may have turned attention to California this past weekend, trainer Chad Brown, Klaravich Stables, and Irad Ortiz Jr. were in the headlines on the opposite coast for notching meet titles at the Belmont Park fall meet.

Chad Brown registered 29 wins to earn his 10th consecutive title there, while Irad Ortiz Jr. won three races on closing day, Nov. 7, to lead all jockeys with 33 victories during the 31-day season.

Inflation Adjusted 's win in Sunday's 10th race finale gave Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables its eighth win of the meet, which broke a three-way logjam allowing Klaravich to become leading owner of the Belmont Park fall meet for the fifth consecutive year. Flying P Stable and Michael Dubb each finished with seven wins. 

Brown extended his dominance of the Belmont fall meet, posting a record of 29-22-18 from 111 starters with earnings of more than $3.7 million. The four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer has won at least a share of the Belmont fall meet every year since 2012. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher concluded the fall meet with 16 wins. Christophe Clement and Linda Rice registered 16 wins each to tie for third. 

NYRA's year-ending leading trainer six years running, Brown saddled eight graded stakes winners at the fall meet, including top-level scores from Rockemperor  in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T) Oct. 9 and Jack Christopher  in the Champagne Stakes (G1).

"I have to just thank my team, my owners, and the horses," Brown said. "Those are the three real key parts to the whole success and I'm very fortunate in all three areas to have the best. I have great horses to work with and terrific owners and a really super talented team and they deserve all the credit." 

Entering closing day, a three-way tie for the riding crown set up an exciting slate, with Ortiz Jr., Luis Saez, and Jose Ortiz all tied with 30 wins. But Ortiz Jr.'s banner day put him on top.

The 29-year-old Ortiz Jr. finished with a 33-35-28 record in 177 mounts with earnings of $3.56 million. His brother, Jose Ortiz, challenged him for supremacy up until the final race, finishing second with 32 wins while Saez, who won aboard Rockefeller  in the featured Nashua Stakes (G3), was third with 31 wins. 

"It feels great and it's always special every time I win a title in New York," Ortiz Jr. said. "This is my hometown. I'm happy. I thank my owners, trainers, my agent for doing a great job and I'm also thankful to stay healthy." 

Ortiz Jr. was aboard for Brown-trained stakes inners Public Sector  and Pocket Square  and also picked up stakes wins at Belmont for other trainers with Annapolis, Life Is Good, Bubble Rock, and Arrest Me Red.

"We always compete no matter what," Ortiz Jr. said. "We try to do our best out there so thankfully it paid off with hard work and dedication." 

For the meet, Klaravich Stables posted a record of 8-8-8 from 40 starters, tallying earnings of $894,549.