Aboard Abscond, a 9 to 1 shot, Ortiz was her third rider in three races. Ortiz was back two races later, the $250,000 Natalma for 2-year-old fillies, aiming to get to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf event. Decorated Invader with Irad Ortiz heading to the winner’s circle. Decorated Invader wins with (11) Cadet Connolly finishing second and on the rail Vitalogy. He won by 1 ¾ lengths over the longshot, in a tight battle with Vitalogy, the colt that had come all the way from England and Ireland, seeking a berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Loving the underdog, Cadet Connolly at 109 to 1, finishing second for trainer Teresa Connolly.īut the star of the show was Decorated Invader, who bumped with Vitalogy leaving the gate, settled in mid-pack and closed three-wide around the final turn. Local star Keep On Trucking was the well regarded at 3 to 1 after winning his first race at Woodbine by 11 3/4 lengths and the Clarendon Stakes by 7 3/4 lengths. Jamie Spencer, aboard Vitalogy, wearing the claret and gold silks of Qatar Racing. He had broken his maiden at Woodbine the previous week. And then there was Pablo Morales, all the way here to ride a 109 to 1 shot, Cadet Connelly, an $1,800 yearling purchase who had spent his time at minor tracks, with far more races under his belt.Ĭadet Connelly finished second. His fellow jockeys in the race read like the Who’s Who of jockeydom: British star Jamie Spencer was on British colt Vitalogy, trained by Joseph O’Brien, son of famed Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien Tyler Gaffalione, who won the Preakness aboard War of Will this year veteran, leading money-winner John Velazquez, on race favourite Mystic Lancelot, trained by Todd Pletcher Javier Castellano. He’d broken his maiden in his previous start at Saratoga. Ortiz, a third-generation jockey from Puerto Rico, won the $250,000 Summer Stakes on 2 to 1 shot Decorated Invader, a $200,000 yearling purchase trained by Christophe Clement. That gave Ortiz the nod as top jockey of the week on a Jockey’s Guild ballot.īut back to drizzly Woodbine, where a fine mist coated everything. He also won a third stakes race, the $200,000 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs in Kentucky with the highly regarded Dennis’ Moment, winner of his first race by 10 lengths at Ellis Park on Saturday. On Sunday, he won both of the Breeders’ Cup Win-and-You’re-In races for 2-year-olds on the grass. He calls it “the toughest loss of my life.Irad Ortiz Jr., top jockey in North America last season, bounced into Woodbine this past weekend. Repole's closest near-miss was Stay Thirsty finishing second in 2011. And now, 15 years later, I’m still looking." “I’ve probably said it 15 years ago when I had just entered the game and was winning claiming races that I’d rather win the Belmont than the Kentucky Derby. “There’s a hole in my resume, and it’s the Belmont Stakes,” Repole said. He and partners bought Overtook for $1 million in 2019 and hope he pulls off the upset. Mike Repole is worth a billion dollars and has won two Breeders' Cup races, but the New York native has never won his hometown Belmont Stakes. Any time you can get the respect of your peers on a day like that, it’s fantastic.”Įager to celebrate with someone Pletcher joked with reporters, “It would’ve been nice for you guys to bring some beers back there or something like that.” “I didn’t have any family there, so that was the closest thing to family. McCarthy got a big embrace from Pletcher after the Preakness, a race his former boss has yet to win. “You’re always looking for someone to celebrate with and share the emotions and share the experience with, so when you’re there by yourself, it’s just one of those things,” McCarthy said this week. McCarthy FaceTimed with his wife and daughter but is relieved they're with him in New York for the Belmont. Trainer Michael McCarthy got emotional after winning the Preakness with Rombauer in his first try in a Triple Crown race because his family wasn't in Baltimore with him to enjoy the moment. Jose Ortiz, Mike Smith and Javier Castellano are among the possibilities.Īsked if he'd like to replace his brother in the Belmont, Jose Ortiz said, “Yeah, of course.” Pletcher said a decision on a replacement won’t be made until Saturday. Irad Ortiz was scheduled to ride trainer Todd Pletcher's Known Agenda in the Belmont, looking for his second victory in the Triple Crown race. "As long as he was talking and was conscious and could feel his legs and arms, I was relieved.” “Relieved as soon as I would run down there and he said he was fine,” Jose Ortiz said. He was moving his extremities and talking to medical personnel and others on the track moments after the fall. Irad Ortiz underwent a CT scan, though it was not immediately clear if he suffered a head injury beyond the cut that required stitches.
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