Jockey Jose Ortiz Plans to Return to Races July 26

Jockey Jose Ortiz, who was involved in an ugly spill at the end of the first race at Saratoga Race Course July 21, was back on the Spa backstretch July 23, but he said he most likely will not ride in a race again until July 26.

Ortiz was unseated at the finish of the 5 1/2 furlong race on the main track when his mount Same Old Fears  fell at the end of the race, pitching Ortiz to the ground. He was diagnosed with bruised ribs after being taken to Albany Medical Center by ambulance, which is 30 miles from Saratoga.

"I feel OK. Sore, but good," Ortiz said. "I am just taking it day by day. It feels a little better every day, but I am still very sore."

Same Old Fears, trained and owned by Wesley Ward, was unhurt.

Ortiz actually did some work on Sunday as he breezed a horse for trainer Jonathan Thomas on the Oklahoma training turf course.

He said he did watch the replay of Friday's race which was originally carded for 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon Turf Course but was moved to the main track because of overnight rain.

"I wanted to see how I landed," he said. "Of course, it could have been a lot worse. I'm just happy to be able to go home and see my family."

Heading into the July 23 Saratoga card, Ortiz was tied for second with Luis Saez with eight riding wins. They are chasing Irad Ortiz, Jr., who has opened up a big lead with 19 wins. He won five races July 22 after winning four Friday.



Rice Enjoying Early Success at Saratoga Meet



After nine days of the 40-day meet at Saratoga Race Course the leading trainer in the clubhouse is Linda Rice. 

"I am obviously very pleased the horses have run well," she said Sunday at her Saratoga barn. 

Rice won the third race Sunday with 4-year-old filly Howdyoumakeurmoney , who was ridden by Jose Lezcano for Commonwealth New Era Racing. When the day ended, Rice had 10 wins, eight seconds, and four thirds in 31 starts.

She is the only woman to have ever won a Saratoga training title, that coming in 2009 when she visited the winner's circle 20 times. She is the only woman to have ever won a training title in New York.

Chad Brown, who has five Saratoga training titles, including four of the last five, has nine wins, six seconds, and eight thirds from 38 starts so far and 14-time champion Todd Pletcher has eight wins, five seconds, and three thirds from 30 starts.

"I have had a very good two weeks," Rice said. "It's early in the meet. I don't have the size of barn or strength of stable that Todd or Chad has. It would be unlikely (for her to win it)."

For now, she will enjoy the roll she is on.

"You always have to be optimistic," she said. "If you weren't, you would not be getting up at 4:00 a.m. seven days a week. You never know how it's going to go."



Wet Paint Tired, but Doing Fine After CCA Oaks Win

The blanket of red and white carnations were in a prominent position outside the office of trainer Brad Cox on the Oklahoma Training Track.

There was also a blanket there that said, winner, 2023 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1).

That was some of the loot won by the talented 3-year-old filly Wet Paint  when she took the 1 1/8-mile race by a neck over Sacred Wish  at Saratoga Race Course.

"She looks good," Cox said Sunday while sitting in a golf cart at his barn. "I was happy with the way she looked. She was a little bit tired, but she had the right to be. Running hard at a mile and an eighth here is always demanding. I am so proud of her effort and how she came out of it."

Godolphin's Wet Paint, a daughter of Blame  , is starting to put a resume together that could eventually put her in the conversation for best 3-year-old filly in the land.

The leader right now is Pretty Mischievous , also owned by Godolphin, and trained by Brendan Walsh.

Wet Paint has won four of six starts this year, all of them with a rally late. The CCA Oaks was the most dramatic of them all.

"She always seems to 'wow' you," Cox said. "Some of her races at Oaklawn this winter, based off the track conditions and the paces she ran up against and the way she was winning going away, you were like, 'wow.' This was another of those 'WOW' performances. She was very good (in the CCA Oaks)."

Two of her three wins at Oaklawn Park over the winter were on off tracks—the Martha Washington Stakes and Honeybee Stakes (G3)—and another on a fast track, the Fantasy Stakes (G3).

Cox said if all goes well the next four weeks, Wet Paint will be back in the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) at the Spa Aug. 19.

Another Cox horse, Gary and Mary West's Salute the Stars , did not fare as well as he finished seventh in the eight-horse field at the Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park.

"The winner (Geaux Rocket Ride ) was very good," Cox said. "(Salute the Stars) did not really negotiate the first turn. He didn't the last time (in the Pegasus Stakes) either but he was able to get up and win. Obviously there were better horses yesterday. We didn't get the performance we were looking for out of him."

Cox said Salute the Stars will not be under consideration for the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Aug. 26.



Amoss Hopes for Better Days Ahead for Hoosier Philly

There was disappointment from the barn when Hoosier Philly  didn't get to run in the $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga Race Course. But trainer Tom Amoss is hopeful there will be better days ahead for his gray 3-year-old filly.

"She is doing better today and she looks better than she did yesterday," Amoss said outside the Spa clubhouse Saturday morning.

Hoosier Philly, who was the 5-2 co-second choice along withGambling Girl  on the morning line for the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), was withdrawn early Saturday with what was called a minor foot issue.

Amoss could not say what is next for the daughter of Into Mischief  , who has four wins in seven career starts. She was expected to be part of the early pace in the CCA Oaks, which was won by Wet Paint.

"There is a process," Amoss said about the next step for Hoosier Philly. "We will go through the process and she will be back on the track shortly. There are no future plans. It's one step at a time right now. We are just worrying about getting her back on the track."