The Eclipse Awards are not voted on until December and not awarded until January, but jockey Jose Ortiz currently has himself in a leading role to take down the award for Outstanding Jockey for the first time since 2017. Should he win the $2 million Preakness Stakes (G1) May 16 at Laurel Park, he might get as close to clinching it in May as possible.
The 32-year-old Puerto Rican rider is still alive to make Triple Crown history should he pull out a win aboard Leland Ackerley Racing, James Sherwood, Jode Shupe, and John Cilia's Chip Honcho, trained by Steve Asmussen
After winning the May 2 Kentucky Derby (G1) with Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable's Golden Tempo, Ortiz completed a career Triple Crown having won the Preakness with Early Voting in 2022 and Belmont Stakes (G1) with Tapwrit in 2017. There will be no opportunity for him to hoist the actual Triple Crown trophy this year as trainer Cherie DeVaux announced Golden Tempo will be skipping the Preakness to prepare for the Belmont Stakes (G1) June 6 at Saratoga Race Course, but he still has a chance to make history as the first rider to sweep the series on different horses in the same season.
"That would be huge," Ortiz said. "To be going for the Triple Crown, even with different horses, would be amazing. If I can do it on different horses, that would be great."
Although he is swapping horses for the Triple Crown's middle jewel, Chip Honcho is not a horse Ortiz is unfamiliar with. He rode the son of Connect to his maiden victory at Churchill Downs in November. He then rode against him throughout the winter at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots aboard Golden Tempo.
Golden Tempo and Ortiz won the Lecomte Stakes (G3) with Chip Honcho fourth, Ortiz finished third behind a second-place Chip Honcho in the Risen Star Stakes (G2), and third again in the Louisiana Derby (G2) while Chip Honcho ran fifth.
In that Louisiana Derby, Chip Honcho was wide and hard for jockey Luis Saez to relax off a hot pace around the clubhouse turn. He put in a mild run to get within a head of the lead around the far turn, but then came up empty in the stretch of the 1 3/16-mile race.
"I thought he was a very good horse when he broke his maiden," Ortiz said of Chip Honcho. "He went to the Fair Grounds and put together a couple of races that were very, very good before the Louisiana Derby. The Louisiana Derby wasn't as good, but it happens, a throw out race. If he run back to whatever he run before that, I think he's very live in the Preakness."
Ortiz had been very pleased by that maiden win last fall, in which Chip Honcho was the pacesetter. He remembered that when he made the lead, Chip Honcho's ears went up as he waited on other horses. That waiting likely led to the margin of victory not being larger than 1 1/4 lengths, but made Ortiz confident in his future ability.
"That's why I liked him; he ran fast and had something more in the tank," Ortiz said. "I saw his progression all winter long at the Fair Grounds. I trust Steve. I know if he's running (in the Preakness) it's for a reason and the horse is going to be good."
Ortiz said on the May 4 episode of BloodHorse Monday that he went into the Derby watching replays of Calvin Borel closing from last aboard Mine That Bird in 2009, knowing Golden Tempo would likely be in the same position.
Ironically, Borel happens to be the last jockey to win the Derby and the Preakness on different horses when he swapped from Mine That Bird to ride Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Rachel Alexandra—one of Ortiz's favorite horses—who defeated the Derby winner by a length. Borel then reunited with Mine That Bird for the Belmont and finished third.
Just like Borel, Ortiz is now switching from a deep closer in Golden Tempo, who was last of 18 entering the clubhouse turn in the Derby, to a more forwardly-placed horse in Chip Honcho.
Should he pull off the Preakness victory, it would add to a special year that has seen Ortiz win not just the Kentucky Derby, but also the Kentucky Oaks (G1) aboard Always a Runner and the Dubai World Cup (G1) with Magnitude.
His success in some of the world's most coveted races also has put a spotlight on the decision Ortiz made in 2024 to move from being based in New York to Kentucky. Ortiz said on BloodHorse Monday that the decision has been a great one for both his professional and personal life.
"I'm very thankful for the horsemen here (in Kentucky); they welcomed me with open arms," Ortiz said.
By extension, Ortiz made the choice to begin wintering at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., at the end of 2024 in order to build and strengthen his relationship with the Kentucky horsemen that he would ride for all spring and fall. That meant leaving Gulfstream Park, where he typically wintered with success, having finished second in the rider standings the previous winter behind his brother, Irad Ortiz Jr.
Luckily for Jose Ortiz, his agent, Steve Rushing, fully backed his decision and was determined to make it work.
"I talked to Steve and said, 'If I wanted to be here (in Kentucky), I think I have to go to the Fair Grounds,'" Ortiz said. "He agreed. He let me be me and make that decision. Whatever made me happy, he was going to have my back. Same with the move to Kentucky. He just said, 'I have your back. Go there and be happy, and we'll figure out the rest of it. If you want to be there, go there.'"
Ortiz has now been leading rider in both winters he's spent at Fair Grounds and it has helped him secure the top moments of 2026 so far. Asmussen's top string of horses winter at Fair Grounds and are based in the spring and fall in Kentucky, as is DeVaux's operation. Both Asmussen and DeVaux, like Ortiz, will then also have a presence at Saratoga during the summer, giving Ortiz year-round opportunities.
That success, and the rider's overall enjoyment of Fair Grounds, appears to have Ortiz set up for the long term.
"I see myself going back there for the rest of my career," Ortiz said. "It's a great place to winter; good weather, good horses, good racing. I love the people; great people, great food. I really love Louisiana and I'm very happy with my circuit right now. I have a little bit of my old self in New York when I go to Saratoga. I see a lot of my old friends and come back to Kentucky and go to Louisiana and meet a lot of new people who are very nice."
This weekend, though, the attention will be on Maryland, as Ortiz aims to add another chapter to what has already been a storybook year.
