Top jockey Jose Ortiz continued to showcase his riding skills this week with an impressive total of 14 wins between Fair Grounds and Oaklawn including two stakes wins, one graded, on Sunday at Oaklawn Park. Also at Oaklawn, veteran jockey Juan P. Vargas won the biggest prize of the day, the Gr. II Rebel Stakes. The accomplishments of both jockeys were hard to separate for the panel of racing experts who honored both as Jockey of the Week for February 17-23.
The weekly honor recognizes jockeys for significant riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Riding at Fair Grounds on Monday, Ortiz made three trips to the winner's circle for trainers Joe Sharp, Whitney Zeringue, Jr. and Michael Stidham. Ortiz collected another three wins on Thursday for Norm Casse, Bret Calhoun and Cherie DeVaux followed by two wins on Friday for Joe Sharp and Norm Casse.
Ortiz posted two more wins for trainer Cherie DeVaux on Saturday before travelling to Oaklawn Park for Sunday's 12-race card which had been moved from Saturday due to inclement weather. Ortiz wasted no time posting a win by taking the first race for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux gave a leg up to Ortiz on even money favorite, Justique in race four, the Carousel. Breaking from post three in the field of eight, Ortiz used a rail-skimming ride and guiding Justique through an opening near the eighth pole to post a ½-length win in 1:09.96 for six furlongs. The jockey/trainer duo of Ortiz/DeVaux boast a win percentage of 43%. Ortiz also won race six for Joe Sharp.
Ortiz next rode Quietside for trainer John Oritz in the Gr. III Honeybee, a qualifying race for the Kentucky Oaks (GI). Breaking from post 12 in the field of 13, Quietside settled into second behind Five G with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons. Quietside moved past Five G in the stretch to post a one-length win in 1:43.63 for a mile and one-sixteenth capping a four-win day for Ortiz.
Trainer Lonnie Briley called on regular rider Juan P. Vargas to ride Coal Battle in the Gr. II Rebel Stakes. Breaking from the rail in the 13-horse field, Coal Battle settled in fifth as the Baffert-trained Madaket Road set the pace. Approaching the half-mile pole, Coal Battle made a three-wide advance on the final turn to engage the pacesetter at the top of the lane and pull away in deep stretch to win by 1-1/4 lengths in 1:43.01 for a mile and one-sixteenth. Coal Battle earned 50 points for the win and sits atop the Kentucky Derby (GI) leaderboard.
"My plan was to just follow the leaders," Vargas said to Oaklawn's publicity department. "At the three-eighths-pole, I began to move and he just took off. He responded. I was so happy with that."
Vargas, 43, regularly rides at Louisiana racetracks making Delta Downs his winter home as does Coal Battle's trainer, Lonnie Briley.
Other contenders for Jockey of the Week were Victor Carrasco with a stakes win at Turfway, Tyler Gaffalione who won the Gr. III Razorback and Irving Moncada who won the John Battaglia at Turfway.
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