SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Irad Ortiz Jr. escaped serious injury from an incident shortly after the start of Sunday’s Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga, but he took off his mounts on Monday, the final day of the Saratoga meet due to soreness in his left wrist and right ribs.
“A little beat up, but not bad at all,” said Ortiz, who was named to ride all 11 races on the closing-day card. “I would love to be out there competing but it is what it is. The doctors cleared me to ride but they also said it would not be a bad idea to have a few days’ rest.”
Ortiz is scheduled to ride Thursday at Kentucky Downs.
In the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Ortiz was aboard Mindframe, the second choice in the race behind Sierra Leone. Coming out of the starting gate, Phileas Fogg, ridden by Kendrick Carmouche broke outward but then was corrected and directed inside toward Contrary Thinking, ridden by Dylan Davis. Contrary Thinking bumped with White Abarrio to his inside who in turn bumped Mindframe who had his back-end turned sideways.
Ortiz lost his balance and tried to grab onto Edgard Zayas aboard White Abarrio to help himself get back on Mindframe. Ortiz, who had a hold of Mindframe’s inside rein, said if he had a hold of the outside rein maybe he could have pulled Mindframe closer to get back aboard.
Ortiz fell, then was kicked by a trailing Sierra Leone. Ortiz lay on the ground and was attended to by multiple emergency medical technicians, who ultimately lifted him up and toward a waiting ambulance. He was taken to Albany Medical Center, where X-rays were negative. He was released from the hospital around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
“Honestly, it could have been worse,” Ortiz said.
Barring an unprecedented day by his brother Jose, Irad Ortiz will finish as the meet’s leading rider with 59 wins. Jose Ortiz entered the final day with 52 wins. No rider has ever won more than six races on a single Saratoga card.
This will be Irad Ortiz’s fourth consecutive Saratoga title, and seventh overall. "I wanted to get 60 so bad,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz now will focus on Kentucky for the fall. Provided he’s healthy enough to get back on Thursday, Ortiz will ride out the Kentucky Downs meet before going to Churchill Downs for the two-week fall meet there leading into Keeneland. Following Keeneland, Ortiz will ride the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar and then likely return to Churchill Downs for that track’s fall meet before heading to Florida for the winter.
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