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Irad Ortiz’ Apple Blossom Ride Earns Jockey Of The Week Title

Billed as “Champion vs. Champion,” the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park was widely considered a two-horse race between Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver. Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Letruska, however, had another idea which earned him Jockey of the Week for April 12 through April 18. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 950 active riders in the United States as well as retired and permanently disabled jockeys.

It doesn't happen often when three-time Eclipse Champion jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. isn't on either the favorite or second favorite but the end result was a familiar one. Riding Letruska for the first time, Ortiz, Jr. went to the lead after the start and led the field through fractions of 23.56 for the opening quarter, 47.96 for the half and 1:12.26 for six furlongs. Swiss Skydiver and Monomoy Girl tracked the leader entering the stretch. Monomoy Girl grabbed a narrow lead but Ortiz, Jr. and Letruska dug in and fought back bravely along the rail to prevail by a nose at the wire in the final time of 1:43.14 for 1-1/16 miles over the fast track. Swiss Skydiver finished 6-1/2 lengths back in third.

“I got the right trip,” said Ortiz, Jr. “She likes to be on the lead, I let her go, let her make the lead. She relaxed and I was able to save something for the end. She responded really well.”

The Apple Blossom was Ortiz, Jr.'s fifth Grade 1 and twelfth graded stakes to date this year.

Ortiz, Jr.'s weekly stats were 20-7-6-3 for a 35% winners and 80% in-the-money.

He led all jockeys in purses won with $1,137,435.

Ortiz, Jr. out-polled jockeys Javier Castellano who won two stakes at Aqueduct, Paco Lopez who was second in number of wins for the week, Flavien Prat who won two graded stakes at Santa Anita and Luis Saez who won a stakes race at Keeneland and led all jockeys by number of wins.

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Indiana Grand: Longshots Trigger Pick 5 Carryover Of $44,093 To Wednesday’s Card

A series of longshots in the Pick 5 sequence at Indiana Grand Tuesday, April 20 will send a $44,093.42 carryover into the Wednesday, April 21 racing program at Indiana Grand. The wager will resume in Wednesday's fifth race with an estimated post time of 4:30 p.m. EST.

The Pick 5 started in the afternoon's fifth race in mild temperatures with a win by Chakra and Malcolm Franklin paying $13.40 to win. The kickoff to the Pick 5 was the lowest paying leg of the day. The wager ended in the ninth race with Big If True and Eddie Perez paying $39.20 to win through a late April snowstorm rolling into the area.

The Pick 5 gained popularity last season with one of the lowest takeout rates in the country at 11.99 percent. The wager continues to attract attention nationally and is held on the final five Thoroughbred races daily at Indiana Grand.

The 19th season of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is now in progress and continues through Monday, Nov. 8. Live racing will be conducted at 2:25 p.m. Monday through Wednesday with first post on Thursday set at 3:25 p.m. In addition, six all-Quarter Horse racing dates are set on select Saturdays starting June 5 at 10 a.m. A special Indiana Champions Day highlighting the state's top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horses will be held Saturday, Oct. 30 beginning at 12 p.m. More information about the 2021 racing season is available at www.indianagrand.com.

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Lesson Horses Presented By John Deere Equine Discount Program: Erin O’Keefe Of BTE Stables On Exposure

You never forget the name of your first lesson horse – that horse who taught you what you need to know to work with every one that follows.

In this series, participants throughout the Thoroughbred industry share the names and stories of the horses that have taught them the most about life, revealing the limitless ways that horses can impact the people around them. Some came early on in their careers and helped them set a course for the rest of their lives, while others brought valuable lessons to veterans of the business.

Question: Which horse has taught you the most about life?

Erin O'Keefe, BTE Stables: I worked with Exposure at Millennium Farms, where I was customer relations manager at the time. She came to the farm as a maiden off the track to be bred, for a seasonal client.

As the breeding sheds opened, she had what appeared to be an abscess. That abscess apparently burst into her coffin joint, and ended up being a highly resistant MRSA bacteria. What started as a simple abscess quickly developed into months in the clinic, tens of thousands in vet bills, and an extremely uncertain prognosis.

Working with her, and the team of people around her, taught me so many invaluable lessons.

From a business perspective, she showed me the value in seeking additional consults, building a team of qualified and open minded professionals, exploring non-traditional options, and continuously advocating for the horse.

From an industry perspective, she showed me the depths some owners will go to for their horses. Her owners were truly wonderful, and their number-one criteria for continuing on was not prognosis or cost, but if she was still fighting. So long as she didn't appear to have given up, they were going to continue to fight for her.

On a personal level, she taught me the value of never giving up. Even when things were bleakest, she kept trying. Some of her worst days aligned with some tough days of my own, but we both came out the other side. Her owners had the attitude that they had faced long odds before, and if they kept trying, eventually one would fall their way. When facing longs odds, I try to adopt the same mentality.

For them (and in some ways, me), she was the one that did – although 2021 gave me another. with my personal OTTB.

This year, she delivered her third consecutive healthy foal. Her first foal, “my” miracle child's miracle child, is a 2-year-old in training now. The probability of that filly ever existing, let alone racing, was incalculably small. Exposure at times faced a less than five percent chance of survival, down to almost zero at one point. But she fought back from that, with a quiet persistence that can be a lesson to all of us.

About Exposure
(2012, Colonel John x Cinderellaslipper, by Touch Gold)

Exposure started her racing career at Santa Anita Park for owner Kaleem Shah and trainer Bob Baffert, after selling for $310,000 at the 2014 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds In Training. She broke her maiden in her third career start in a maiden claiming race at Santa Anita Park, and followed up with a starter allowance score at Los Alamitos. At the end of her 3-year-old campaign, she was sold privately to the partnership of Go-To-Toga Racing and Bill and Susan Tomasic, and put in the New Mexico-based barn of trainer Justin Evans.

She spent the remainder of her on-track career in New Mexico, highlighted by a victory in the Albuquerque Distaff Handicap, where she equaled the track record for one mile in 1:35.57. She retired with five wins in 17 starts for earnings of $124,717.

Exposure has had three foals as a broodmare. The first, a First Samurai mare named Call Me Penny, is a 2-year-old of 2021. She had a McCraken filly in 2020, and a first-crop Maximus Mischief colt earlier this year.

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Interest in Horse Racing in Ireland Increasing

Following a nationwide poll, interest in horse racing in Ireland has increased, Horse Racing Ireland announced on Wednesday. A poll of over 1,000 people, conducted by the Red C research company between Feb. 8-Feb. 15, aimed at understanding the adult population's attitudes toward horse racing. The results are as follows:

In 2021, 39% of the population have an interest in horse racing versus 23% last year
A total of 85% of racing fans are missing attending race meetings
19% of racing fans plan to attend more race meetings than previously
27% of 18-34 year-olds plan to attend more race meetings than previously
40% of the population would have some interest in joining a racing syndicate or racing club.

Brian Kavanagh, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, said, “The results of the poll demonstrate that interest in horse racing has increased through the pandemic. While racing has been held behind closed doors since March of last year, it is heartening that such a large percentage of racing fans are eager for a return to the racecourse.

“The numbers of people getting involved in racehorse ownership continues to rise and the survey results reflect this increased appetite. Racehorse ownership is the key catalyst for growth at every level of the industry.”

Paul Dermody, CEO of HRI Racecourses and HRI's Director of Commercial & Marketing, added, “The figure of 60% for people who follow the sport on a weekly basis is well up on the 2020 equivalent of 47%. The feedback shows that HRI's 'On Your Terms' television ad campaign has performed very well among sports and racing fans.

“It is such a positive that there has been an increased number of racemeetings broadcast live on terrestrial television and this has been very well received. We are grateful to both RTÉ and TG4 for their increased commitment to Irish Racing.

“Indeed, the new broadcasting deal with RTÉ for live coverage of Irish horse racing for the next three years will deliver a record number of free-to-air live racing days in Ireland.”

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