Worth Over $287,000,000 Already, Reigning Champion Adds $250,000 to His Earnings After Winning Mega Equestrian Event

Renowned racehorse Forte has added yet another victory in his saddle by winning the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at the Saratoga racecourse. In a nerve-bitting contest, the reigning champion gets the last say and keeps the title. Interestingly, Forte was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr, the well-known Jockey at Saratoga.

The enhancement done before the race has shown its colors. Before the race, Forte trained with blinkers for the race to improve his focus. This step proved to be helpful, and he won the race. For Irad Ortiz Jr, this win has further cemented his position in the tally of jockeys with the most wins at Saratoga.

Irad Ortiz Jr adds another crown to his list

After claiming an incredible achievement at Saratoga by winning five races in a single day, worth over 287 million dollars, Irad Ortiz Jr was already prepared for this race. They started the race positively and maintained an inside stalking position. While doing so, there was competition with the Angel of Empire for the second position who was running Forte’s outside position. Saudi Crown was in the lead since the beginning.

Ortiz maintained the inside position and was looking for an opening to the outside to contest the leader. He finally got into the room and angled Forte to pass Angel of Empire and started to run to catch the leading horse. Irad already got stride with Angel of Empire left behind he made one final push for the first position. In that push, he managed to get his nose down over a drifting Saudi Crown and won the race in 1:49.61. The race stewards inquired about the stretch run, but there was no change in the results.

Ortiz who rode Forte in all his lifetime races, said on the contest, “I was close to the rail. The horse in front stayed there. I had a chance to hit the clear, I did. As soon as I hit the clear, my horse go forward“. He said that when it was the inside position, it was difficult to create a gap as horses where the front horse was coming out and he was at his heels. To avoid a clash, he kept running and finally, when the front horse got straight, he took the lead. With this win, the jockey earned $250,000. The win also elated the trainer who made the changes before the race.

A Look at Irad Ortiz Jr.’s Career

Irad Ortiz Jr. comes from a family where being a jockey has been the profession for generations. He is the elder brother of Jose Ortiz. Hailing from Puerto Rico, Ortiz has graduated from Escuela Vocacional Hípica, a school for prospective jockeys in his native country. After moving to the U.S., he found success in his career. In 2014, he won fifteen grade stakes his best year in his entire career.

Read More: Famed Jockey Worth $286,155,753 Adds Another Win to His Name at Popular Equestrian Race Track

In 2015, he rode Lady Eli to win all her first three races, which included the Grade 1, $1-million Belmont Oaks Invitational. He also won Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf abroad Stephanie’s Kitten in the same year. Since then, he never looked back and made strides towards the podium. He won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey from 2018 to 2022. He again won Belmont in 2022 abroad Mo Donegal. In his entire career, he has 17,895 starts to date. In those starts, 3,618 were his first finishes. This year he had 941 starts with 240 podium finishes and added $21,467,749 to his total earnings.

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