Irad Ortiz Jr. notched his 3,000th victory in North America Thursday at Gulfstream Park with a 4 ¼-length score aboard Order and Law ($7.20) in Race 4.
“It's been a long way and a lot of hard work,” said Ortiz, who rode Private Life ($9) to victory in Race 3 to set up his milestone win aboard Mike Maker-trained Order and Law. “I have to thank all the owners and trainers for supporting me. Without them, it wouldn't be possible. I've had help from all of them. My agent, Steve Rushing, has been great. He's out there every day for me.”
The three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey, who began riding in the U.S. in 2012, won his 3000th career race, including 92 victories in his native Puerto Rico, at Belmont Park in October.
The 29-year-old jockey, who has led North America in races-won the past five years, is a three-time defending Championship Meet titlist at Gulfstream, where he guided Life Is Good to a 3 ¼-length victory over Knicks Go in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 29.
A triumph aboard Creator in the 2016 Belmont Stakes (G1) and 14 victories in Breeders' Cup races are among his 3000 wins in North America.
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