Saratoga Titles for Pletcher, Ortiz, Dubb

Saratoga Race Course's meet concluded Sept. 7 with Todd Pletcher winning his sixth straight training title and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. landing his first while Michael Dubb repeated as leading owner.

 

Pletcher, who won his 12th Saratoga title overall, trailed Chad Brown for much of the meet before taking the lead with three winners on Saturday and pulling away to edge Brown, 34-31.

 

"It feels good for the whole team," said Pletcher. "It was extremely stiff competition this year. Chad Brown and his team had a phenomenal meet. We're blessed."

 

Brown ended the meet 15 wins clear of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in third. Christophe Clement and Rudy Rodriguez finished in a tie for fourth to round out the top five.

 

Leading rider on the NYRA circuit in 2014, Ortiz dusted an elite jockey colony to take the riding crown. The 23-year-old got off to a quick start, caught fire in the middle of the 40-day meet, and cruised to the finish with 57 victories, four more than Javier Castellano.

 

"It's a dream come true to win a title in Saratoga," said Ortiz, who was nipped, 56-55, by Castellano for top honors at the Belmont Park spring meet. "We came running last (year) and just missed. We just kept working hard and this year was the year."

 

Though he failed to capture his third straight jockey title at the Spa, Castellano won six top-level races: the Travers (gr. I), Whitney (gr. I), Woodward (gr. I), Vanderbilt (gr. I), Alabama (gr. I), and Hopeful (gr. I). His upset victory aboard Keen Ice over Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in the Travers gave Castellano a record five wins in the race.

 

"I think I had the best meet ever in my career," said Castellano. "I didn't win the title but I won all the big races. It was amazing."

 

Dubb and his various partnerships won 12 races at the meet, two more than Klaravich Stables in second. Patricia Generazio finished third with eight wins.