Irad Ortiz | Horse Racing Free Tips

Derby Jockeys: With Several Big Names Staying Home, Kentucky Riders Get A Shot In The Big Dance

In a normal year, jockeys would be hard-pressed to miss their flights to Louisville for a chance to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Obviously, 2020 has been anything but a normal year, with the coronavirus pandemic pushing the Run for the Roses back to Sept. 5 and drawing up jockey travel restrictions all around the United States.

Last week, Churchill Downs announced that riders wanting to participate in the Derby will have to arrive in the state of Kentucky by Aug. 31, and participate in several additional coronavirus precautions.

As such, a number of prominent U.S. jockeys won't be making the trip to Kentucky. Jose and Irad Ortiz will both stay in New York, as will Joel Rosario, reports the Daily Racing Form, and last year's Derby winner Flavien Prat will stay in Southern California.

Those choices have opened the doors for Kentucky-based riders to have a chance to pick up a mount in the Derby.

Here's a look at the current 3-year-olds pointing to the Kentucky Derby, and their jockeys (plus state in which they are based), in order of points earned.

Tiz the Law – Manny Franco (New York) – 372
Authentic – John Velazquez (New York) – 200
Art Collector – Brian Hernandez, Jr. (Kentucky) – 150
Honor A. P. – Mike Smith (California) – 140
Ny Traffic – TBD (last ridden by Paco Lopez) – 110
King Guillermo – Samy Camacho (Florida) – 90
Thousand Words – Florent Geroux (Kentucky) – 83
Dr Post – TBD (last ridden by Joe Bravo) – 80
Max Player – Ricardo Santana, Jr. (Kentucky) – 60
Caracaro – TBD (last ridden by Javier Castellano) – 60
Enforceable – Adam Beschizza (Kentucky) – 43
Rushie – TBD (last ridden by Javier Castellano) – 40
Major Fed – James Graham (Kentucky) – 38
Storm the Court – Julien Leparoux (Kentucky) – 36
Attachment Rate – Joe Talamo (Kentucky) – 35
Sole Volante – Luca Panici (Florida) – 30
Finnick the Fierce – TBD (last ridden by Jose Ortiz) – 25
Winning Impression – Joe Rocco, Jr. (Kentucky) – 20
Necker Island – Mitchell Murrill (Kentucky) – 14
Shirl's Speight – Rafael Hernandez (Canada) – 0
Money Moves – TBD (last ridden by Luis Saez) – 0

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Country Grammer ‘Keeps Improving,’ Inspires Chad Brown To Try Travers Off Short Rest

An opportunity to run at a desired distance, in the race he's wanted to win more than any other but has yet to add to his already lengthy list of accomplishments, was too tempting to pass up for trainer Chad Brown.

The Mechanicville, N.Y. native will send out Paul Pompa, Jr.'s Country Grammer in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers for 3-year-olds, the highlight of both the Saratoga season and a loaded 12-race program featuring five graded-stakes worth $1.95 million in purses.

Country Grammer will be the 11th Travers starter for Brown, his best finish coming with Gift Box, who ran fourth in 2016. Growing up a half-hour south of Saratoga, where his family has gathered at the same backyard picnic table on Travers Day for decades, Brown is hoping to break through in a year when coronavirus protocols will prevent fans from attending.

“I was thinking about that; if I finally win and nobody's here, does it count?” Brown said. “It's so depressing to not have the fans here, but at least they have the meet going. NYRA's done a super job, at least from the horsemen's side, to make it feel comfortable as they can. The racing product's been super, as you can see from the wagering, and the surface is extremely safe. The Travers will be a little different, but we'll take it if we can get it.”

Country Grammer enters the 1 ¼-mile Travers off a neck victory over fellow Mid-Summer Derby aspirant Caracaro in the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan on July 16, opening day at Saratoga. He has never gone less than a mile in any of his five races, and Brown said he has been relishing the chance to go further.

“Two turns is his thing, and we've been wanting to get a mile and a quarter all along,” Brown said. “Hopefully this horse will get the distance. I'm confident he can. He's going to have to take a step forward in this race and hope a couple of the top contenders can't go that far.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Country Grammer from post 2 in a field of eight led by even-money program favorite Tiz the Law, the Grade 1 Florida Derby and Belmont Stakes winner this year, and Grade 3-winning California shipper Uncle Chuck.

“I prefer more time in between races with my horses, but I thought it was a great opportunity to take another shot at the Travers. It's a little bit of a shorter field than normal and the Kentucky Derby, some people waiting for that,” Brown said. “It's a unique year to maybe give it a shot with a horse that keeps improving. Even though we're running on short rest, I think the reward is probably a little bigger than the risk.”

Prior to the Peter Pan, Country Grammer ran third in a 1 1/16-mile allowance on June 4 at Belmont Park, his first start since finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in February at Gulfstream Park in his sophomore debut. He debuted on the Belmont turf last fall before breaking his maiden second time out going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct.

“We just drew a line through the race at Belmont. He's really never even trained well there. That's why I debuted him on the turf, actually, the first start of his life. It's something I wasn't really looking to do when I got him in,” Brown said. “He looked like a dirt horse but he just didn't train well enough so I took a shot and he didn't run good on the turf. When I got him over to Aqueduct, anywhere away from Belmont, his races have been good on the dirt.”

Brown has been pleased with how Country Grammer has taken to Saratoga's main track, newly refurbished for 2020, in both his training and racing.

“It's definitely more similar to Aqueduct than it is Belmont. It reminds me of Keeneland, too, a little bit. This new surface has been great,” Brown said. “It's my 13th year of training racehorses on my own, and this is one the best racetracks I've ever trained on or raced on.”

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Nonna Madeline Shows Off Her Two-Turn Chops In Summer Colony

Trainer Todd Pletcher said last week that he was optimistic two turns could continue to suit Nonna Madeline's strengths. The 4-year-old daughter of Candy Ride proved her connections prophetic, dueling with Golden Award into the stretch before pulling away to a 1 1/4-length win in Wednesday's $85,000 Summer Colony for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Teresa Viola Racing Stales and St. Elias Stable, Nonna Madeline entered looking for her first win of the campaign after back-to-back runner-up efforts, including at 1 1/16 miles on April 16 at Oaklawn Park. Stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time, Nonna Madeline, the even-money favorite, stayed just off 3-2 Golden Award's early fractions as she led the five-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.31 seconds, the half in 46.22 and three-quarters in 1:09.66 on the fast main track.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. moved Nonna Madeline up from the outside, taking command entering the stretch. At the top of the straightaway, Ortiz, Jr. gave left-handed encouragement to ward off Golden Award's bid to retake the lead near the rail. Nonna Madeline hit the wire in a 1:49.13 final time, earning her first stakes win in seven attempts.

“I had a perfect trip,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “We didn't know what [Golden Award] was going to do. I just went with my plan to come running out of there and if I can make the lead easy, make it, and if something else changed, Todd let me do whatever I needed to do.

“The other horse [Golden Award] was right there in the first turn,” he continued. “She broke sharp, so I just sat second beside her. We were going a little fast but I didn't have too many options. She was the filly to beat so I had to stay there. She was very comfortable. She wasn't going that keen, and on the backside she relaxed a little bit and she was still in the race. She never backed up, so that was great.”

Pletcher trained three-fifths of the field, with Bellera and Always Shopping running third and fourth, respectively, while the Rob Atras-conditioned Bossy Bride completed the order of finish in fifth.

“I didn't anticipate that they would go that fast. It sort of turned into a match race up front, and I'm proud of her for digging in and finding more the first time going a mile and an eighth,” Pletcher said. “She was coming out of some faster races so we anticipated we'd be close.

“Like I said before the race, you can have a plan but you're not sure what everyone else's plans are,” he added. “We were in a good position for that filly, and I thought [stablemate] Bellera was sitting an ideal trip and just kind of ran evenly. It was a big effort from Nonna Madeline and nice to see her get a stakes win.”

Nonna Madeline made her first Saratoga appearance since running twice as a juvenile in 2018, finishing second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville and fifth in the Grade 1 Spinaway. On Wednesday, she returned $4.30 on a $2 win bet and improved her career earnings to $202,190.

“The more we've done with her and having had the opportunity to run her two turns at Oaklawn, I thought there was a decent chance she'd see out the mile and an eighth,” Pletcher said. “To be honest with you, I looked at this one hoping to get that stake win for her. Now that we've got that, we can be a little more ambitious.”

Golden Award, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, finished 7 ¼ lengths in front of Bellera, placing for the 10th time in 14 career races for the 5-year-old Medaglia d'Oro mare.

“I had a great trip,” Alvarado said. “I thought there was going to be a little more competition at the end but my horse and the winner took it from the beginning. We were head-to-head the whole way, and I think today the other horse was best. We were just second-best.”

Bellera, who capped her 2019 with a win in the Grade 3 Comely in November at Aqueduct Racetrack and last out ran third in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap in June, earned blacktype for the fifth time in six starts.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a nine-race card that includes the $100,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series Cab Calloway for state-bred 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf in Race 8 at 5:14 p.m. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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Fresco Continues Clement’s Big Saratoga Meet With Maiden Victory In NYSS Statue Of Liberty

Oak Bluff Stables' Fresco broke her maiden in her stakes debut, overtaking three rivals from the outside in the stretch and drawing away for a 1 3/4-length score in Thursday's $100,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series Statue of Liberty for state-bred 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

Fresco, second by a nose to Sky Blue last out on June 25 at Belmont, was patiently handled by jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. in stepping up in class. The Freud filly was second-to-last in the six-horse field as Dixie Cannon led through an opening quarter-mile in 24.80 seconds and the half in 50.08, posting modest fractions on the firm inner turf.

Out of the final turn, Ortiz, Jr. swung out and one-by-one overtook Hunnybunnerdini and Nicky Scissors from the outside. She soon moved up alongside Dixie Cannon and surged past the pacesetter, completing the 1 1/16-mile course in 1:45.43 for her first win in four starts.

“We were trying to wait with the filly because she likes to hang a little bit,” Ortiz, Jr. said “We tried to wait as long as we could today. She broke a little sharp, I took a little hold and she relaxed so well that I just left her there.”

Trainer Christophe Clement picked up his eighth win of the meet, ranking him first among conditioners.

“Irad did a great job. He took her back and saved ground,” Clement said. “You could see they did not finish that fast, so he did the right thing which was to save something for the end.

Clement and Ortiz, Jr. teamed for their second consecutive win Thursday, with the duo also winning with Plum Ali in Race 3.

Off at 1-2, Fresco returned $3 on a $2 win bet. The homebred more than tripled her career earnings to $70,990. It also marked another accomplishment for Oak Bluff, who bred the Clement-trained Therapist, who has compiled eight wins in 17 starts, and Audible, who won the 2018 Grade 1 Florida Derby and Grade 2 Holy Bull while running third in that year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“It's fun. She broke her maiden in the stakes for her owner-breeder,” Clement said. “She has blacktype so it works for the whole program. Usually, the owner will sell his colts and keep his fillies and he has been very successful with a small broodmare band. He bred Audible, he bred Therapist and he bred this filly and I'm just lucky to be a part of the program.”

Dixie Cannon, also making her stakes bow for trainer Kelly Rubley and ridden by Jose Ortiz, was four lengths the best of Nicky Scissors for second.

“I had a perfect trip,” Ortiz said. “I was able to get to the lead, slow it down and make a run but the winner was much the best.”

Hunnybunnerdini, Apollo's Abraxas and Holmdel Park completed the order of finish. Officer Hutchy was scratched.

Live racing resumes Friday at Saratoga with a 10-race card highlighted by the Grade 3, $100,000 Quick Call for sophomores going 5 ½ furlongs on the Mellon turf course in Race 9 at 5:46 p.m. Eastern. First post is 1:10 p.m.

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