Ortiz Jr. Suffers Broken Ankle in Fall at Keeneland

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was unseated shortly after the start of Keeneland's final race Oct. 22 and suffered a broken left ankle that will require surgery, taking him out of the saddle indefinitely, according to his agent Steve Rushing. The news of the broken ankle was first reported by Daily Racing Form's David Grening. Ortiz was aboard She's Good Trouble, a 2-year-old filly making her second lifetime start, when she stumbled in the early strides out of the gate, dropping Ortiz to the dirt. As the field continued on without him, Ortiz was in visible pain on the track reaching toward the bottom of his leg. The University of Kentucky HealthCare medical team carried Ortiz off the track before the field looped back around in the 1 1/16-mile race and evaluated him in the track's first aid room. He was then taken out on a stretcher, but was fully alert, and transported to a local hospital. She's Good Trouble completed the race with the field and was caught by outriders on the clubhouse turn without further incident. On Aug. 8, the five-time Eclipse-winning rider broke seven bones in his left foot during a prerace incident at Saratoga Race Course. He missed nearly two months of racing, returning on Keeneland's opening day Oct. 2. The injury will force Ortiz to miss the Oct. 30-31 Breeders' Cup World Championships. Among his top mounts were Further Ado in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) or Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Rhetorical in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T), and Splendora in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).