Ortiz Jr. Returns From Injury Jan. 22 at Gulfstream
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
Irad Ortiz Jr., who injured his knee in a starting gate accident Jan. 7 at Gulfstream Park, is scheduled to resume riding there Jan. 22. The three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey has three mounts, including Max K. O. in the $75,000 Sunshine Turf Stakes.
After initially being diagnosed with a minor knee fracture that could have taken as long as a month to heal, the rider received a second medical opinion Jan. 12 and was told it was a bone contusion, not a fracture. That cleared the way for a swifter return, according to agent Steve Rushing.
Ortiz breezed horses Jan. 18-19, and felt good, Rushing said. Plans call for the rider to ride sparingly over the weekend before resuming a full workload next week, his agent said.
His return comes a week before a lucrative stakes program Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park with more than $5 million in purses. That card is headlined by the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1). Life Is Good , who Ortiz rode to victory in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Del Mar in the fall, is one of the race favorites, along with Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner Knicks Go .
Ortiz, 29, was the second-leading rider by North American earnings in 2021. In his only two days of action this winter in South Florida before his injury, he won four races.