Irad Ortiz Jr.

She wasn't late. Everyone else was simply early. The Albaugh Family's homebred 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' On Time Girl (Not This Time) made a final-furlong move to the front and pulled away to easily capture Saturday's GIII Forward Gal Stakes, earning herself 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. Making her 3-year-old debut, the Brad Cox trainee went three-for-four last year and was just a length away from an undefeated juvenile season when second as the favorite in the Myrtlewood Stakes at Keeneland Oct. 24. She...

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has sent a letter to stakeholders at the Eclipse Awards asking them to bar jockeys Irad Ortiz Jr. and his brother, Jose, from future consideration for the awards after the discovery of a social media video that appears to show the brothers collecting cash in a ring at a cockfight in Puerto Rico. It is unclear when the event took place. The 18-second video was posted on X in November, 2025 on the account of @Josmaestre131, with a caption in Spanish...

2nd-GP, 84K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 11:30 a.m. Kicking off a loaded Pegasus World Cup card at Gulfstream Park, St. Elias Stable homebred BENEFICENCE (Into Mischief) makes her debut for trainer Todd Pletcher. The daughter of Playtime is a half-sister to GSW Jouster (Noble Mission {GB}), a mare who brought $1.5 million from Katsumi Yoshida at Keeneland November in 2022. Playtime herself is a daughter of Eclipse-winning 2-year-old filly Storm Flag Flying, meaning the family also includes MGISW My Flag. Quick on the work tab, Beneficence has put up four...

Track stars such as Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) are among the finalists for the 2025 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, recognizing excellence through the past year in Thoroughbred racing, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) said via a Sunday press release. Winners in 17 horse and human categories will be announced on FanDuel TV, and other outlets, during the 55th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards, presented by John Deere, The Jockey Club and the NTRA, on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 7:30...

Godolphin LLC, who campaigned 13 North American graded stakes winners during 2025, including dual classic winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief), set a single-season record in earnings as the leading owner for the fifth consecutive year, and Irad Ortiz, Jr., established a single-season record as the leading jockey by earnings according to final year-end statistics released by Equibase Company on Friday. Godolphin--with 104 North American wins from 448 starts--amassed record earnings of $22,395,556, surpassing their previous mark of $20.2 million set in 2024. When including earnings from the Dubai and Saudi Cup...

Not to be outdone by 6-year-old Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) in the GIII Harlan's Holiday one race prior, classy Woodslane Farm homebred Wolfie's Dynaghost (Ghostzapper) went not one but two better, winning the GIII Ft. Lauderdale Stakes as a 7-year-old in record time. The Brian Lynch trainee, making his 32nd start Saturday, took over a year off following a run at Turfway Park in the GIII Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes in March of 2024. Remarkably, the gelded son of the great Ghostzapper returned as a 7-year-old in June of this year, winning...

TAPPAN STREET, last seen on the track winning the GI Curlin Florida Derby in March, missed quite an eventful summer. Take for instance the horse he defeated that day in Sovereignty (Into Mischief), who never lost again this season and looks to be a strong candidate for Horse of the Year. Had a condylar fracture in his right front leg not knocked him off the Road to the Kentucky Derby, perhaps Tappan Street would have had more to say in the big 3-year-old races this season. As it stands, the...

Shifting his tack to Churchill Downs for the 26-day Fall Meet, Irad Ortiz Jr. rounded out the session with 46 wins, including two landed on Sunday's closing day. The mark represented the most wins at the meeting since Julien Leparoux won 63 races "It's been very successful since moving to Kentucky," Ortiz Jr. said. "It's been great to be able to ride for so many new owners and trainers. I'm very thankful for everyone who's helped us get to where we are." Represented by Steve Rushing, Ortiz' most notable wins...

Taylor Made's Not This Time, who currently leads all North American-based sires by black-type winners for 2025, further padded that number when Albaugh Family Stables homebred On Time Girl (f, 2, Not This Time--Girl Daddy, by Uncle Mo) captured Churchill's Fern Creek Stakes for juvenile fillies Saturday afternoon, bringing her sire's stakes winner count to 26 for the year. The bay 2-year-old, a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', left the gate sharpest of all, almost immediately putting a length on the field, but Keeneland maiden winner Solemn Vow (Constitution)...

Trainer Brad Cox's outfit was like a hen on a June bug towards the end of Keeneland's 'Fall Stars' meet and subsequently kept pouncing on wins at Churchill, Horseshoe Indy and Aqueduct as the calendar flipped to the more autumn-like weather of November. Louisville's favorite son collected 20 winner's circle visits across 61 starts from Oct. 21 on, which included a Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) playlist in the GIII Hagyard Fayette Stakes, an Oaks points deposit for Life of Joy (Gun Runner) in the Rags to Riches Stakes and...

After claiming three winners during the marquee Breeders' Cup event at Del Mar, Irad Ortiz Jr. has won the 23rd Bill Shoemaker Award as outstanding jockey for the sixth time. The Shoemaker Award goes to the jockey who rides the most winners in the 14-race Championship series with the tiebreaker being a 10-3-1 point system for second-through-fourth-place finishes. Ortiz opened his weekend on Cy Fair (Not This Time) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, and returned to the winner's enclosure Saturday with yet another filly beating the boys...

The 2025 Fall Meet wrapped Saturday with a season-record of $217-million in all-sources wagering, Keeneland announced via press release. Propelled by record purse money and overall good weather for the duration of the meeting, the 17 days of racing totaled $217,266,759 on the season--surpassing the previous record of $210,165,945 set last year for the 2024 Fall Meet. It was a 3.38% increase. Average daily purses of $1,341,107 also set a Keeneland record and races averaged 9.2 starters per card. Opening Fall Stars Weekend (excluding whole-card simulcasting at Keeneland) generated $48.9-million...