Irad Ortiz, Jr.

FIRST WINNER

• Jan. 2, 2011, on Wild Logic at Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico

INTRODUCTION TO RACING

• Grandfather, also named Irad Ortiz, was a jockey, as was uncle Ivan Ortiz
• Attended Puerto Rico’s Escuela Vocacional Hípica, a school for prospective jockeys

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Began his riding career at Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico on New Year’s Day, 2011, and rode there until June, winning 76 of his 357 mounts with earnings of $453,845
• Pito Rosa, a NYRA peace officer who works in the jockeys’ room, took notice of Ortiz’s success in Puerto Rico and asked New York-based agent Tony Micallef if he’d be interested in carrying the rider’s book. Micallef accepted, and Ortiz rode his first race at Belmont Park on June 17, 2011 and had his first U.S. victory one week later aboard Millennium Jet on June 24

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Won two Belmont Stakes, 2016 with Creator and 2022 with Mo Donegal
• Has won 20 Breeders' Cup races, with his first coming in the 2014 Juvenile Fillies Turf with Lady Eli and his latest on White Abarrio in the 2023 Classic
• 5-time Eclipse Award Winner for Outstanding Jockey
• Won back-to-back riding titles in New York in 2014 and 2015 with 278 and 281 winners, respectively and added his third year-end crown in 2017 with 296 winners
• Won two Breeders’ Cup races in 2015, aboard Stephanie’s Kitten in the Filly & Mare Turf and Lady Shipman in the Turf Sprint and captured his third career Breeders’ Cup victory aboard Bar of Gold in the Filly & Mare Sprint. 
• Participated in the 2014 Longines International Jockey Competition
• Saratoga’s leading rider for Grade 1 wins in 2012 with three (Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama with Questing, Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap with Poseidon’s Warrior)

NEW YORK RIDING TITLES

• 2024 Saratoga, 52 winners
• 2023 Saratoga, 62
• 2022 Belmont at the Big A fall, 35
• 2022 Saratoga, 55
• 2022 Belmont spring/summer, 48
• 2021 Aqueduct fall, 21
• 2021 Belmont fall, 33
• 2020 Saratoga, 59
• 2020 Belmont spring/summer, 34
• 2019 Aqueduct fall, 29
• 2018 Belmont fall, 44
• 2018 Saratoga, 52
• 2018 Belmont spring/summer, 60
• 2018 Aqueduct spring, 24
• 2017 New York, 296 winners
• 2017 Aqueduct fall, 44
• 2017 Belmont fall, 51
• 2017 Aqueduct spring, 30
• 2017 Aqueduct inner track, 76 
• 2016 Belmont fall, 48 (tie)
• 2015 New York, 281
• 2015 Saratoga, 57
• 2015 Belmont fall, 50
• 2015 Aqueduct fall, 30
• 2014 New York, 278 
• 2014 Belmont fall, 46
• 2014 Belmont spring/summer, 51 (tie)
• 2013-14 Aqueduct inner track, 83
• 2012-13 Aqueduct inner track, 79