irad ortiz jr | Horse Racing Free Tips

Irad Ortiz Jr. Rides Six Winners At Gulfstream: ‘Tomorrow, Everybody WIll Forget’

Two-time defending Championship Meet titlist Irad Ortiz Jr. rode six winners on Saturday's 12-race program at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

After notching a natural hat trick with victories aboard Hard Game ($8) in Race 2, Noble Empire ($3) in Race 3 and Bourbon in May ($7.60) in Race 4, Ortiz scored aboard Great Island ($2.60) in Race 6, the $100,000 Suwannee River, Democracy ($15.60) in Race 7, and R Mercedes Boy ($5.60) in Race 9.

Ortiz has ridden a meet-leading 76 winners, 16 more than Luis Saez.

“You never think that you're going to win that many races, but you come here positive,” Ortiz said. “You try to win every race. I ride all my horses with the same mind. I try to win, no matter what. I think that helps. I got the right horses, too. My agent does a great job and all the trainers support me. They give me a lot of good chances, and the owners. Right now, we're in a good position, thank God. I'm glad. I feel great.

“It's pretty great. You don't have too many days like this, so I just enjoy it. For me, honestly, I go home and it's just another day. Tomorrow everybody will forget what happened today. I just move on. I celebrate the way I want to; I go home with my family. That's it, and tomorrow is a new day.”

The record for most wins on a Gulfstream program is 7, shared by Jerry Bailey (3/11/96), Tyler Gaffalione (7/4/17), Luis Saez (1/24/18 and 3/29/18) and Paco Lopez (3/21/20).

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Great Island Overcomes Stumble To Win Off-The-Turf Suwannee River

Alpha Delta Stables LLC's Great Island overcame a bad stumble at the start to put her head in front at the finish of Saturday's $100,000 Suwannee River at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Making her first main-track start in the 1 1/8-mile stakes for older fillies and mares that was taken off the turf due to afternoon rain, the 4-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy collected her first career stakes victory while narrowly prevailing over pacesetter Drop a Hint on a sealed sloppy racetrack. The Chad Brown-trained filly provided jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. with his fourth of six victories on Saturday's 12-race program.

Sent to post as the 1-5 favorite in a field reduced to six by scratches, Great Island stumbled leaving the starting gate to drop several lengths behind the field heading into the first turn. Drop a Hint set fractions of 24.28 and 48.81 seconds without pressure for the first half mile and continued to show the way on the far turn after rebuffing a challenge by Loving Moment. Great Island steadily advanced along the backstretch and far turn to reach contention on the turn into the homestretch, but Drop a Hint wasn't showing any signs of weakening under Edgard Zayas.

“It's hard to overcome after that in the first part of the race,” Ortiz said. “She just stumbled, big-time, twice. After I said, 'Let me just see what she can do.' I just let her settle and by the backside she started moving really good so I didn't want to take too much hold of her after what happened in the beginning. I just let her roll and find her stride.”

It took the entire length of the stretch, but Ortiz succeeded in urging the Chad Brown trainee to victory by a head.

“By the quarter pole. I had to start working on her, but thank God, she kept coming. The trainer did a great job. She had a lot of stamina,” Ortiz said. “For a second, I thought she didn't want to go by the other horse probably, and she was looking at her, so I just tried to stay a little away in the stretch so she can feel free and go on and pass that horse. I got lucky I could go by.”

Great Island, who was placed third after finishing second in the Via Borghese at Gulfstream in her previous start, ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:52.51. Drop a Hint finished second, a half-length ahead of Mylastfirstkiss.

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Gulfstream Park: Zayas Holds Hot Hand; Rainbow 6 To Have $700,000 Guarantee Wednesday

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $700,000 Wednesday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the fifth straight racing day Sunday when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $2,718.50.

The jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

WHO'S HOT: Edgard Zayas continued to make the most of his opportunities during the 2020-'21 Championship Meet Sunday. Fresh off his winning ride aboard Drain the Clock in Saturday's Swale (G3), Zayas notched four wins on Sunday's program, scoring aboard Blessed Journey ($5.20) in Race 5, Aycapote ($8.20) in Race 7, El Pillo ($7.80) in Race 8, and Summer Kid ($13.20) in Race 9.

Summer Kid was Zayas' 50^th win of the meet.

Leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. had a three-win day, scoring aboard Topo Grigio ($3.20) in Race 2, No Decaf ($5.60) in Race 3, and War Stopper ($3.80) in Race 10.

Junior Alvarado notched back- to-back wins aboard Blessed Journey ($5.20) in Race 5 and Crew Dragon ($8) in Race 6.

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2020 Eclipse Awards: Authentic Voted Horse Of The Year In A Landslide

Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic was named Horse of the Year for 2020 in the 50^th annual Eclipse Awards hosted by Spendthrift Farm on Thursday evening but held virtually with no live audience because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

A 2017 foal sired by Into Mischief out of Flawless, by Mr. Greeley, Authentic was bred in Kentucky by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, Inc., owned by Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing, and trained by Bob Baffert. After a maiden victory in his career debut as a 2-year-old in 2019, Authentic won five of seven starts in 2021, including three Grade 1 stakes: the TVG.com Haskell Stakes, Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, and Longines Breeders' Cup Classic.

He also won the G3 Sham Stakes and G2 San Felipe Stakes at his home base at Santa Anita Park. Authentic's lone defeats came in the G1 Santa Anita Derby and G1 Preakness (to 3-year-old filly champion Swiss Skydiver.

Authentic got 224 first-place votes for Horse of the Year, with Monomoy Girl receiving seven, Swiss Skydiver six and Vekoma one.

Authentic was retired to Spendthrift, where he will stand alongside his sire.

The complete list of 2020 Eclipse Awards winners appears below:

Horse Of The Year: Authentic
Two-Year-Old Male: Essential Quality
Two-Year-Old Filly: Vequist
Three-Year-Old Male: Authentic
Three-Year-Old Filly: Swiss Skydiver
Older Dirt Male: Improbable
Older Dirt Female: Monomoy Girl
Male Sprinter: Whitmore
Female Sprinter: Gamine
Male Turf Horse: Channel Maker
Female Turf Horse: Rushing Fall
Steeplechase Horse: Moscato (GB)
Owner: Godolphin, LLC
Breeder: WinStar Farm LLC
Jockey: Irad Ortiz,
Apprentice Jockey: Alexander Crispin
Trainer: Brad Cox

In voting that concluded January 4, 2021, Eclipse Awards voters cast their ballots to rank the top three horses and individuals in each Championship division on a 10-5-1 point system.

This voting established the top three finalists in each division, whose names were released on Jan. 16, 2021.

The tallies below represent only first-place votes from members of the consolidated voting entities, NTRA, Daily Racing Form, and National Turf Writers And Broadcasters.

Voter participation rate: 238/249 = 95.58%

Two-Year-Old Male
Essential Quality, 231; Jackie's Warrior, 6; Fire At Will, 1.

Two-Year-Old Filly
Vequist, 212; Aunt Pearl (IRE), 24; Malathaat, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Three-Year-Old Male
Authentic, 236; Tiz the Law, 2.

Three-Year-Old Filly
Swiss Skydiver, 218; Gamine, 20.

Older Dirt Male
Improbable, 218; Knicks Go; 8, Vekoma, 5; Maximum Security, 4; Global Campaign, 1; Tom's d'Etat, 1; Whitmore, 1.

Older Dirt Female
Monomoy Girl, 234; Midnight Bisou, 4.

Male Sprinter
Whitmore, 132; Vekoma, 83; Volatile, 16; Charlatan, 4; C Z Rocket, 3.

Female Sprinter
Gamine, 219; Serengeti Empress, 13; Frank's Rockette, 4; Guarana, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Male Turf Horse
Channel Maker, 180; Zulu Alpha, 17; Order of Australia (IRE), 15; Factor This, 7; United, 7; Gufo, 4; Domestic Spending (GB), 3; Arklow, 2; War of Will, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.

Female Turf Horse
Rushing Fall, 115; Tarnawa (IRE), 106; Magical (IRE), 8; Audarya (FR), 5; Starship Jubilee, 2; Newspaperofrecord (IRE) 1; Sharing, 1.

Steeplechase Horse
Moscato (GB), 155; Snap Decision, 28; Rashaan (IRE), 21; Iranistan,2; Voter Abstentions, 32.

Owner
Godolphin, LLC, 78; Spendthrift Farm, LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, and Starlight Racing, 56; Klaravich Stables Inc., 47; Gary Barber, 23; Sackatoga Stables, 7; End Zone Athletics Inc., 6; Peter Callahan, 4; Michael Dubb, Monomoy Stables, LLC, The Elkstone Group LLC, and Bethlehem Stables, 3; Calumet Farm, 1; Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, 1; M and M Racing, 1; Maggi Moss, 1; Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey 1; Gary and Mary West, 1; Voter Abstentions, 8.

Breeder
WinStar Farm, LLC, 128; Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, LLC, 52; Calumet Farm, 45; Godolphin, 6; Charles Fipke, 1; Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC, 1; Voter Abstentions, 5.

Trainer
Brad Cox, 106; Bob Baffert, 69; Steve Asmussen, 44; Chad Brown, 8; Christophe Clement, 1; Michael Maker, 1; Peter Miller, 1; Ron Moquett, 1; Bill Mott, 1; Barclay Tagg, 1; Wesley Ward, 1; Voter Abstentions, 4.

Jockey
Irad Ortiz, Jr., 162; Joel Rosario, 54; John Velazquez, 14; Florent Geroux, 3; Tyler Gaffalione, 2; Flavien Prat, 1; Luis Saez, 1; Voter Abstention, 1.

Apprentice Jockey
Alexander Crispin, 79; Yarmarie Correa, 74; Luis Cardenas, 38; Charlie Marquez, 15; Cristian Torres, 3; Sunday Diaz, Jr. 1; Voter Abstentions, 28.

Media Eclipse Awards
Media Eclipse Awards also are given in the categories of photography, audio and multi-media Internet, news/enterprise writing, feature/commentary writing, television–feature, and television–live racing programming to recognize members of the media for outstanding coverage of Thoroughbred racing. The 2020 Media Eclipse Awards winners, determined by a judges' panel for each category and previously announced, are:

Photography – Alex Evers, Paulick Report, “A Derby Without Fans,” Sept. 21, 2020.

News/Enterprise Writing – Natalie Voss, Paulick Report – Multi-part Series: “A Decade In, How Are We Doing With Thoroughbred Aftercare?” Dec. 2, 2019; “Emptying The Ocean With A Teaspoon: The Challenges Of Aftercare,” Dec. 3, 2019; and “Aftercare Should Not Be An Afterthought: Solutions For The Future,” Dec. 4, 2019.

Feature/Commentary Writing – Natalie Voss, Paulick Report, “'An Angel On His Shoulder': This Thoroughbred's Fate Was Written In Ink,” May 13, 2020.

Television – Feature – NBC Sports, “Riders Up: The World's First Sports Bubble,” Oct. 2, 2020 on NBCSN; Produced by the Hennegan Brothers.

Television – Live Racing Programming – NBC Sports, “The Breeders' Cup World Championships,” Nov. 7, 2020; Billy Matthews and Lindsay Schanzer, producers.

Audio/Multi-Media Internet – Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN), “To Hell and Back: Belmont Marks A Deserved Triumph for New York City,” June 19, 2020; Joe Bianca, writer and narrator, Patty Wolfe, producer.

The Eclipse Awards are sponsored by Spendthrift Farm, Roberts Communications, Four Roses Bourbon, Daily Racing Form, Breeders' Cup, FanDuel Group, The Stronach Group, TVG, Dean Dorton, Stonestreet Farm, Keeneland, Racetrack Television Network, Jackson Family Wines, Florida HBPA, Runhappy, Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, Hallway Feeds, and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

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