Brown Wins Fifth Straight Belmont Spring Title

Chad Brown notched 23 wins to finish as the leading trainer at the Belmont spring/summer meet for the fifth consecutive time and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. posted 34 victories to lead all riders as the 25-day meet concluded Sunday at Belmont Park. Klaravich Stables led all owners with 13 wins, outpacing second-place finisher Michael Dubb, who had seven victories.

“I’m really proud of our team. We had a late start to the year and it was frustrating for everybody–the staff, the owners, everybody involved,” Brown said. “Our team held it together. We had to change plans with several horses. We had to change plans with living arrangements for people on our team. Everyone had to make sacrifices and alter their life–and that’s not just our stable, that’s other stables, racetrack management and all around in other industries.”

Ortiz was the leading rider for the second time in the last three Belmont spring/summer meets, compiling a 34-23-13 record in 128 mounts, winning at more than a 26% clip.

“I’ve done well in the spring here. I’m thankful to all the trainers and the owners,” Ortiz said.

Live racing shifts to upstate New York when the 40-day Saratoga meet opens July 16.

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Prat Latest Southern California Jockey to Test Positive for Coronavirus

According to his agent, Derek Lawson, top California rider Flavien Prat has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Because he left California to ride Saturday at Keeneland, Prat was required to take a test Sunday before being allowed to ride at Del Mar. The test results were positive and Prat had to take off all his mounts.

“These athletes, they know their bodies,” Lawson said. “When I picked him up at the airport, he said, ‘I think I have it.'”

Lawson said that Prat is feeling fine and will return to his home in the Los Angeles area to wait out the quarantine period.

Along with Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia and Luis Saez, Prat becomes the fourth jockey who rode on the July 4 card at Los Alamitos to test positive. For Saez, it cost him the mount on Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) in Saturday’s GII San Diego H. He will be replaced by Abel Cedillo, but trainer Bob Baffert told the Daily Racing Form that Saez will regain the mount once his quarantine period is over.

Prat, who was the leading rider at the 2019 summer meet at Del Mar, will also lose several important mounts and Lawson was quick to blame Los Alamitos for his predicament.

“All of this transpired at Los Alamitos,” Lawson said. “They were so careful at Santa Anita and then at Los Alamitos it was like the wild, wild west. They let everything get out of hand. We only went over there to ride Bellafina and for Baffert. They didn’t do anything. It was like, ‘Come on in, everyone is welcome.’ After how well everything went at Santa Anita, what a shame.”

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