Irad Ortiz, Jr. And Saffie Joseph, Jr. Defend Gulfstream Titles

The Gulfstream Park Championship Meet ended Sunday with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. and trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. defending their respective titles. Ortiz finished the meet with 119 winners, a mark that saw him top the rider's standings for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

“It went very good for us,” said Ortiz. “It means a lot to win another title here. They make me feel at home here. The owners, everybody training here, the whole organization– security and the people who work here–they make me feel good. I have great support from the trainers and owners of Florida, and I appreciate it. I'm so happy to win another title here.”

Saffie Joseph, Jr. trained 66 winners through the meet, good enough to lead Todd Pletcher in the standings and pick up his third-straight training title.

“We're thankful for the opportunities from the owners, the team we have–how hard they work and all the effort they put in–and most importantly to have the horses we have,” said Joseph. “The horses are the biggest piece of the puzzle. The horses make everyone look good.”

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Career Win 1,000 for Saffie Joseph

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. earned the 1,000th victory of his career when Palace Zip (Palace Malice) won the 10th race at Gulfstream Park Sunday.

“It's amazing,” Joseph said after being recognized and posing for photos in a winner's circle ceremony. “I remember the first one and here we are at 1,000. The first probably 200 took five or six years and it was a struggle, and the last 800 have come pretty quickly. We've gotten the opportunities from the owners and that's what you need. Without the owners, you can't do it. There's no trainer without horses, and the owners produce the horses.”

A native of Barbados, the 37-year-old Joseph has won eight consecutive titles at Gulfstream Park since finishing second during the 2020-2021 Championship Meet. He is on track for a third straight Championship Meet title, leading the 2023-2024 stand in wins (47), starters (223) and purses earned ($2.37 million).

“We're only as good as what the owners give us. That's what makes trainers,” Joseph said. “We have to take care of them with the staff, and that's what makes me. I'm one person that is head of 80 people that make me and make us as a unit. It's not just me, it's a credit to the whole staff. It's a whole crew that makes this success possible and I'm very thankful to be in this position.”

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Irad Ortiz, Jr. And Saffie Joseph, Jr. Claim Gulfstream Meet Titles

Irad Ortiz Jr. finished off the Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park in style Saturday, piloting Forte to a victory in Saturday's GI Curlin Florida Derby to tally his sixth winner on the day alone.

With three more winning rides on Sunday's closing day program, Ortiz finished the Championship Meet with 128 victories to reclaim the jockey title for the winter Thoroughbred session.

Ortiz ran away with this year's title while finishing 57 wins ahead of the Luis Saez, who finished three wins ahead of third-place Jose Ortiz.

“I've had big support from the owners and trainers. They support me. Thanks to them. If I don't have their help, I can't do anything,” Irad Ortiz Jr. said Sunday. “At the same time, my agent Steve (Rushing) has done a great job. He does everything he can, every single day to get horses for me. I thank God for keeping me healthy and being available to do this every single day.”

Ortiz, who had a 28% strike rate during the Championship Meet, also led the purses-won standings with $7.39 million.

“I try to prepare as much as I can for every horse, every day. I just like to prepare myself to get to know every single horse to get an advantage, that's important,” Ortiz said.

Saffie Joseph Jr. made a successful title defense of the Championship Meet by a 47-41 margin over Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

“Last year was huge because it was the first time we had done it. I think this one even means more to comeback and prove it again. It gives the whole team a lot of confidence,” Joseph said. “I have a lot of appreciation for all the owners' support. It's a blessing from God.”

Keeping his training title didn't come easy.

“Todd really gave us a fight for this. Last year, we always had the momentum. This year, we weren't separated by more than two wins most of the time. He went ahead by two in mid-February.  After that we got some momentum and were able to hold him off. It mean's a lot.”

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‘I Just Need The Opportunity’: Determined Castellano Making Gulfstream Winter Home Again

Five winters have passed since his reign as the Championship Meet's dominant rider came to an end, but Hall of Famer Javier Castellano still comes to South Florida with the same level of enthusiasm.

This year, he also comes with a message.

“I need to have the opportunity and that's what I'm looking for: building the relationship with the trainers and hoping they give me the opportunity and they support me a little bit,” Castellano said. “I know how to do this. I know how to win races. I know how to get it done. I just need the opportunity from the trainers and I'm not going to let them down.”

No one won more races at Gulfstream Park than Castellano during a five-year span between 2011-12 and 2015-16, when he led the jockey standings with an average of 114 wins and set a then-record 132 in 2013-14. The mark has been surpassed twice since, by Luis Saez (137) in 2017-18 and Irad Ortiz Jr. (140) last year.

Besides Castellano, only three other riders have led the jockey standings as many as three consecutive years – Ortiz (2018-19 to 2020-21), Jorge Chavez (1999-2001) and Jeff Fell (1977-79). Ortiz will be back this year looking to make it four straight.

“I'm very excited. I feel like Gulfstream is my home. I've had a lot of success at Gulfstream,” Castellano, 44, said. “Five titles in a row is a great achievement. I'm very lucky and fortunate to be in that spot.”

Castellano got off to a late start at last winter's Championship Meet after having arthroscopic surgery to clean up some debris in his right leg, near the hip, last November. He didn't ride between Nov. 15 at Aqueduct and his Feb. 17 return at Gulfstream, finishing with 15 wins and $599,560 in purses from just 66 mounts. Among his victories was the March 27 Ghostzapper (G3) aboard Eye of a Jedi, a race named for the Hall of Fame horse that helped launch Castellano's career to new heights.

“It took a while to recover. That's what they predicted. The doctor told me I had to be out for three or four months. I was out three months and a half and came back to ride late at Gulfstream,” Castellano said. “It's been a long year for myself. Thank God I still win a lot of races … and I had a couple of Grade 1 winners, but not competitive with past years for me. I think it's partly the momentum [after] the surgery, building up a little bit of my business again.”

Castellano gave brief consideration to staying in New York for the winter, but ultimately decided to follow the blueprint that has proven successful for many years.

“I feel like that's the best way to do it. Thinking about more in the future, building my business and my relationship with trainers and look toward the spring and the summer and those big races,” Castellano said. “The only way you can build a relationship [and] be loyal with them is to go with the flow with the horses. When the horses go to Florida, I want to follow the horses and hopefully those maiden races help get the momentum building [and] the relationship with those trainers.

“I think that's the best way to go. Why do I need to change something that's been working for many years for myself?” he added. “I thought about it and I made my mind up that that's the way to go, that it's supposed to be like that. Go to Florida and ride the good horses.”

South Florida is where Castellano first landed when he came to the U.S. in 1997 and rode his first domestic winner before moving to the New York circuit in 2001. In the midst of his Eclipse run he set single-season career highs of 362 wins in 2013 and a then-record $28.1 million in purse earnings in 2015.

One new wrinkle at the Championship Meet is the addition of all-weather Tapeta to the dirt and turf courses, making Gulfstream the only track in North America to race on three different surfaces.

“I'm excited because we have a new surface with the [all-weather] track. It's an opportunity for those horses to develop and I think I have more options,” Castellano said. “In New York, unfortunately, in the winter, we don't have turf racing and we don't have synthetic. We have only one dimension and it's racing on the dirt, and you don't know how the weather's going to be. They only race four days a week.

“Hopefully we can find a nice 3-year-old to have for the year,” he added. ““I'm looking forward big time for this winter at Gulfstream. Gulfstream is amazing because that's where I started riding horses when I first came to this country. It opened the door for me. It gave me the opportunity and look where I am now more than 20 years later.”

Castellano has won the Preakness (G1) twice, the Travers (G1) a record six times and 12 Breeders' Cup races. He (2013-16) and fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey (2000-03) are the only jockeys to win four consecutive Eclipse Awards as champion rider. Castellano ranks second all-time with more than $364 million in purses earned and has won more than 5,400 races.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017, Castellano owns 463 career graded-stakes victories. Nine of them have come this year, including the Acorn (G1) and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1).

“You always have to compete and you always have to work hard. I don't take anything for granted. Unfortunately I had a bump in the road in my career with the surgery but I've put it behind me. I feel 100 percent. The reason I did the surgery is because I want to extend my career. I want to ride more years ahead and the only way I can do that is to refresh my body and take care of my body. I'm looking ahead to another five, six, seven years, maybe 10. Who knows?” Castellano said. “I love this game and I love to keep doing what I'm doing. I love racing and I'm trying to enjoy it.”

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