Fresh off his first Fair Grounds leading rider title, Jose Ortiz was on the move travelling to Oaklawn Park for Arkansas Derby weekend. Ortiz proceeded to win three stakes races including sweeping the track's feature races, the Gr. I Arkansas Derby and the Gr. II Fantasy on Saturday and the Hot Springs Stakes on Sunday. The panel of racing experts voted Ortiz Jockey of the Week for March 24 through March 30.
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.
Trainer John Ortiz gave Ortiz a leg up on Quietside in the Gr. II Fantasy for three-year-old fillies. The race is part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 2 and offered 100 points to the winner.
Off at odds of 3-5, Quietside broke a step slow from post position four in the field of nine while the undefeated Simply Joking took the early lead. Quietside stalked the pace until just past the three-eighths pole when she confronted Simply Joking. The two fillies battled through the stretch until the final furlong when Quietside edged clear for a three-quarters length win in 1:44.31 for the mile and one-sixteenth.
"That was a battle," said Ortiz to Oaklawn publicity. "It was exciting. She's very talented and she showed it today. She had a battle today, but she's a fighter. She showed a lot of guts."
One race later, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse tapped Ortiz to ride Sandman in the Gr. I Arkansas Derby after the colt had finished a troubled second in the Gr. III Southwest and third in the Gr. II Rebel.
Racing in seventh after a half-mile and 13-1/2 lengths behind the two front runners Cornucopian and Speed King, Sandman made his winning move on the second turn. Under Ortiz, Sandman took control turning for home and was never threatened winning by 2-1/2 lengths in 1:50.08 over eight rivals at a mile and one-eighth. The race offered 100 points to the winner on the Kentucky Derby (G1) Leaderboard.
"When he entered the stretch, he exploded," said Ortiz. "Very happy, very excited. Kentucky Derby - here we come."
Not yet done, Ortiz won Sunday's feature the Hot Springs Stakes at one mile aboard Clever Again for Oaklawn's perennial leading trainer and Hall of Famer, Steve Asmussen. The 6-5 favorite went wire-to-wire to win by four lengths over five rivals in 1:37.13 giving Ortiz five wins in two days.
The red-hot Ortiz heads to Keeneland April 4 for their opening weekend.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week included Manny Franco who won the Gr. II Gulfstream Park Oaks, Irad Ortiz, Jr. with a win in a graded stakes race, the most wins for the week with 12 and the Gulfstream Park leading rider title for the third consecutive year, Flavien Prat with a graded stakes win and Luis Saez who won the Gr. I Florida Derby among five stakes wins between Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay.
This press release has not been edited by BloodHorse. If there are any questions please contact the organization that produced the release.
