Counting Stars dazzles in G1 Coaching Club American Oaks as part of record-equaling six-win day for Irad Ortiz, Jr.
The race for divisional supremacy among sophomore fillies was still up for discussion between Grade 1 DraftKings Acorn-winner Counting Stars and Kentucky Oaks-winner Always a Runner ahead of Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks, but Counting Stars put that argument to rest when soundly defeating her familiar foe for the second time this year in the nine-furlong route for sophomore fillies at Saratoga Race Course.
Irad Ortiz, Jr. was aboard Counting Stars in the Acorn, and climbed aboard the daughter of Honor A.P. again in the Coaching Club American Oaks to land his fifth of a record-equaling six wins on Saturday’s card, joining Hall of Fame riders Ramon Dominguez and John Velazquez as the only jockeys to have won six races in one day at the Spa.
Ortiz, Jr., who is represented by agent Steve Rushing, said it is an honor to share the record with two of the sport’s top riders of all-time.
“They’re the greatest – they are GOATs,” said Ortiz, Jr., who missed the first six days of the meet due to suspensions and is quickly climbing the meet riding standings. “I can’t be more happier than what I am right now. I’m so happy for all the opportunities that have been given to me. Nothing would be possible without the help I’ve been getting since Day One. I have to appreciate the trainers and the owners and especially my agent for the hard work and their support, they’ve been there for me all the time."
Trained by dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse for West Point Thoroughbreds, Counting Stars was an authoritative winner of the Acorn last out over course and distance on June 5 with a 3 3/4-length score over Always a Runner, and was just as dominant on Saturday as she shrugged off the challenge and drove home a 4 1/4-length winner. The CCA Oaks served as a rubber match between the two fillies as they had each beaten the other once, with Counting Stars landing third in the Kentucky Oaks ahead of their first rematch in the Acorn.
“She's a special horse. She is,” Casse said. “It was great for racing to see the two of them go at it. We said all along this week that this was round three, the rubber match. So, that's what happened. Luckily, we ended up on the right side of it.”
Counting Stars emerged sharply from the inside post and took advantage of that draw to zip up the rail and mark the opening quarter-mile in 23.86 seconds over the fast footing, taking up the role of pacesetter after the scratches of expected speed influences Directive and La Rascasse. Jose Ortiz rushed Always a Runner up into contention in the early stages and angled in from post 5 to race along the inside in the second flight in tandem with beaten Kentucky Oaks favorite Zany to her outside.
The beat went on for Counting Stars up front as she reached the half-mile in 47.60 and three-quarters in 1:11.55 before Zany came under a ride and Always a Runner was right on the pacesetter's heels and waiting for the right moment to make her bid up the inside. The Casse-trained Measure was swung three-wide from fourth position exiting the turn and Zany spun her wheels, but Always a Runner was turned loose to make her run at her familiar rival.
It was a match race from the top of the stretch on as the two fillies battled it out, and it appeared Always a Runner would pull ahead at the eighth pole as she briefly stuck her head in front, but Counting Stars found more under urging from Ortiz, Jr. and would not be denied, pulling away in the final sixteenth to gallop home an easy winner in a final time of 1:48.98.
“I’m cruising, by the three-eighths pole, I’m cruising,” Ortiz, Jr. explained. “I want to bide a little more time, and then I feel somebody, so I start going, [that was the] first time I asked her to go forward, which she did. I looked, and when I looked, it was the other filly to beat and Jose, so I said, ‘let’s go.’ And he was already there [coming up rail], nothing I can do. When we kicked, he kicked. I said, ‘no way, I can clear him.’ So, it was going to be a battle for me. Then we turned for home, I start working on her and she opened up two lengths, I said, ‘alright, let her be her,’ and she got the job done.”
Always a Runner was 2 1/2 lengths better than Measure in third with Zany completing the superfecta. Miss Fulton Gal, Nycon and Dandona, who had a troubled trip when steadied hard in the first turn, rounded out the order of finish.
Casse tipped his cap to Always a Runner’s five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, and said Counting Stars’ adaptability is her best asset.
"I knew that Chad would have Always a Runner better today, but I felt that we were better today as well,” Casse said. “Somebody asked me, 'what's the difference between a decent horse and a good horse?' The good ones continue to get better, and she is getting better and better. She doesn't need any help. If there's no speed, she'll go to the lead. If there's a bunch of speed, she'll sit off of them. So, that makes her special as well.”
Brown was equally complimentary to Counting Stars and Ortiz, Jr., but lamented that Always a Runner wound up on the rail throughout most of the race.
“Two things – the winner ran terrific and Irad rode a masterful race. He was way off the rail and sort of baited us in there or forced us in there and we went there,” Brown said. “It wasn’t the best spot to be. I’m not sure the result would have been different, but I would have rather not been there.”
There were a few tense moments for Casse when Always a Runner put her head in front near the eighth pole, but the talents of the five-time Eclipse Award-winning Ortiz, Jr. soon put him at ease.
"I was watching [by the television monitor], and then I ran over [to the rail] to watch. And, honestly, when [Always a Runner] went by her, for a second, I was like, 'no, you're better than this, girl!' And Irad told me he's sitting there, waiting,” Casse said. “He said when Jose came to him, he said, 'c'mon, girl!' She kind of hesitated for a minute. And he said, 'I know you're better than this!' And he went with her. And he said then she took off. He said she had gotten pretty relaxed. Chad is one of the best trainers of all time, so I knew coming in he was going to be ready for us.”
Counting Stars had some large shoes to fill coming into her sophomore year after stablemate Nitrogen was named last year’s Champion 3-Year-Old Filly, but Casse said she’s living up to her predecessor.
"She has grown up, and she just does everything,” Casse said. “I'm very lucky because I get to compare her to another one that I have who is not bad. She reminds me a lot of Nitrogen. She does things that normal horses don't do."
As for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Gary Barber and Bridlewood Farm’s Measure, Casse expressed his pride in the daughter of Essential Quality as she tried stakes company for the first time.
"I thought for a minute, the way she moved up, I was like, 'woah!' We've loved her, but she has no speed,” he said. “She just gets better and better. Proud of her as well.”
Casse added he expects both Counting Stars and Measure to contest the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales on August 22 next.
Ortiz, Jr.'s six wins on the card came amongst mounts in all 12 of the day's races, finding the winner's circle in Race 2 [Power of Women, $3.54*], Race 5 [Chambersville, $21.64], Race 6 [Wynstock, $12.06] and Race 9, the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt with Built [$4.40*]. Two races after the CCA Oaks, he equaled the record with a perfectly-timed ride aboard Leave Me [$5.02*] in the Race 12 finale.
The momentous day saw him make many correct calls to win half of the day's races to share in the record with Dominguez [7/22/2012; 9/2/2012] and Velazquez [9/3/2001].
"Sometimes you make a wrong decision, and you can do nothing with that, you just have to turn the page and keep going,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “We have to keep doing what we do, we can’t change anything – ride our horses. If I make a wrong decision, turn the page and keep going.”
A $150,000 purchase at the 2025 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Counting Stars has proven to be a bargain after boosting her bankroll to $1,660,606 with the $275,000 she banked for her CCA Oaks victory. She adds to an impressive ledger that includes an additional graded score in the Grade 2 Fantasy in March at Oaklawn Park, where she also won a pair of stakes events in December and landed second in the Grade 3 Honeybee.
Sent to post as the even-money mutuel favorite, Counting Stars returned $4.08 on a $2 win ticket.
Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Grade 2, $250,000 Honorable Miss presented by Mionetto in Race 8. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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