Last month, Irad Ortiz Jr. made the surprise announcement that he would be leaving his home state of New York and becoming a permanent member of the Kentucky jockey colony. The decision to relocate his tack and family paid off Oct. 25, when the Eclipse Award-winning jockey sewed up his Keeneland fall meet title with a victory aboard Hit Show in the $348,750 Fayette Stakes (G3).
"You never know how its going to play out," Ortiz said. "I was second in the spring meet here. Every time I come here people support me and that went into making the decision I did. (Coming here this fall) it feels great to have everyone support me and I thank God I won the riding title. I'm just happy and we're going to keep working and trying to (win more titles)."
Ortiz dominated the Keeneland jockey race, riding eight more winners than Tyler Gaffalione in second. Overall, he rode 25 winners. With the last-minute addition of Hit Show in the Fayette, the Puerto Rican native ended the meet with four graded stakes wins under his belt. During opening weekend, Ortiz captured three stakes, guiding Rhetorical to a win in the Turf Mile Stakes (G1T), Nakatomi in the Phoenix Stakes (G2), and Final Score in the Bourbon Stakes (G2T).
Ortiz wasn't the only one to seal the meet title in the Fayette Stakes. Brad Cox, who had been in a tight race for leading trainer with Brendan Walsh and Steve Asmussen heading into Saturday's card, netted two wins on the afternoon to catapult him to the top of the standings. This was Cox's sixth consecutive Keeneland fall meet title, and his eighth overall training title at the Lexington oval. Cox had tied Walsh for this year's spring meet title.
It was only fitting that it was Hit Show to save the day for the Cox barn. The globe-trotting campaigner rolled to his second straight triumph in the Fayette, keeping his Keeneland record a perfect 3-for-3.
Hit Show ascended new heights when defeating an international cast in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1). However, since returning stateside, the 5-year-old has failed to show the same vigor that propelled him to victory in the Middle East. Fifth in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1), he narrowly prevailed in the West Virginia Governor's Stakes before finishing fourth in the Lukas Classic Stakes (G2) Sept. 27 at Churchill Downs, a race he had easily won the year before.
No matter his recent patchy form, the Keeneland crowd made the 126-pound topweight the second choice in the 11-horse field, behind only Gosger, a rising 3-year-old star from the Brendan Walsh barn.
While Hit Show trailed the field early in the 2024 Fayette, the son of Candy Ride was sitting slightly closer to the pace in this year's edition. Racing in midpack through fractions of :23.01, :46.66, and 1:11.31, Ortiz had Hit Show poised just off the leaders as the field turned for home. As a battle on the lead ensued between Gosger and Dragoon Guard, Hit Show angled into the clear, charging past his younger rival and hitting the wire clear by a length.
"He deserves all the credit," Ortiz said of Hit Show. It was Ortiz's first time riding the gutsy gray/roan. "(Cox had told me) to keep contact with the field. I ended up in a beautiful position on the first turn and he was traveling very nicely down the backstretch. He was there for me every time I asked him."
Hit Show ($9.14) stopped the clock in 1:50.39 over a fast main track. Multiple graded stakes winner Rattle N Roll, another who had been struggling to regain his luster following an overseas campaign, closed furiously from the back of the pack to get second by a neck over Gosger.
Video: Hagyard Fayette S. (G3)
Meet Stats & Figures
As a special treat to wrap the meet, the connections of Thorpedo Anna paraded the newly retired 2024 Horse of the Year for the Keeneland crowd between the seventh and eighth races. The Kenny McPeek-trained filly bookended her stellar career with starts at Keeneland. She made her career debut at the track in 2023 during the fall of her 2-year-old year when she romped by 8 1/2 lengths in a maiden special weight, and made her final start Oct. 5, a fourth-place finish in the Spinster Stakes (G1).
While Ortiz and Cox took the jockey and training meet titles, powerhouse racing and breeding operation Spendthrift Farm swept the Keeneland owner's title. Spendthrift had taken home trophies in Keeneland's two grade 1 races for 2-year-olds with Ted Noffey in the Breeders' Futurity (G1) and Tommy Jo in the Alcibiades Stakes (G1). Overall, the outfit sent out six winners from eight starters.
Keeneland posted a season-record $217 million in all-sources wagering. All-sources wagering (excluding whole-card simulcasting at Keeneland) totaled $217,266,759 this fall, surpassing the previous record of $210,165,945 set during the 2024 fall meet—a 3.4% increase over last year. Average daily purses of $1,341,107 set a Keeneland record, while races averaged 9.2 starters per card.
On-track wagering of $17,239,420 increased 3.9% from last year's $16,597,162.
