Chad Brown has selected Irad Ortiz Jr. to ride his GIII Tampa Bay Derby winner Domestic Product (Practical Joke) in this year's GI Kentucky Derby.
The mount opened up when Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) won Saturday's GI Blue Grass S. with Tyler Gaffalione aboard. Gaffalione, also the regular rider of Domestic Product, will stick with the highly regarded Sierra Leone, who could be the second choice in the Derby.
“We were lucky enough to pick up Irad Ortiz on (Domestic Product). So he's going to ride him in the Derby, which is great,” Brown said.
Ortiz has had seven mounts in the Derby and has yet to hit the board with any. Brown is also 0-for-7 in the race.
While Sierra Leone may be his main gun, Brown thinks highly of Domestic Product.
“That horse is an under-the-radar real contender in the Derby,” Brown said. “He has a really fast figure at a mile-and-an-eighth as a two-year-old to keep working off of.”
Gaffalione is also a fan of Domestic Product.
“Tyler said to me, 'he's not that far behind (Sierra Leone).,” Brown said. “'Trust me, the horse goes a mile and a quarter. There's not as much separating these horses as you think. That's what he told me.'”
Domestic Product broke his maiden in his second career start last fall at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet. After a poor effort in the GII Remsen S. he was second in the GIII Holy Bull S. He then won the Tampa Bay Derby by a neck over No More Time (Not This Time).
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