Buy Tickets
Irad Ortiz Jr.
Record at Keeneland
Career Firsts
Starters in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes
|
At Keeneland
Two titles as leading rider: 2024 Spring Meet (20 wins) and 2025 Fall Meet (25 wins).
Two wins in Central Bank Ashland (G1): Nest (2022) and Leslie's Rose (2024).
Two wins in the Coolmore Turf Mile (G1): Annapolis (2022) and Rhetorical (2025).
Two wins in Juddmonte Spinster (G1): Got Lucky (2015) and Letruska (2021).
Other Grade 1 wins: 2021 Maker's Mark Mile on Raging Bull (FR), the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity on Forte; the Jenny Wiley on In Italian (GB); the Madison on Goodnight Olive; and the Maker’s Mark Mile on Raging Bull (FR). During the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland has Grade 1 wins aboard Elite Power, Forte, Golden Pal, Goodnight Olive and Stephanie's Kitten.
Rode first winner during the 2015 Spring Meet.
First stakes victory was the 2015 Appalachian (G3) Presented by Japan Racing Association on Lady Eli.
Career
Eclipse Awards as North America’s outstanding jockey (5): 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
North America’s leading rider by wins from 2017-2025 and by earnings from 2018-2020, 2022-2023 and 2025.
Triple Crown wins (2): Belmont on Creator (2016) and Mo Donegal (2022).
Breeders’ Cup wins (23): 2014 Juvenile Fillies Turf on Lady Eli; 2015 Filly and Mare Turf on Stephanie’s Kitten; 2017 Filly and Mare Sprint on Bar of Gold; 2018 Juvenile Fillies Turf on Newspaperofrecord (IRE) and Filly and Mare Sprint on Shamrock Rose; 2019 Classic on Vino Rosso, Turf on Bricks and Mortar, Dirt Mile on Spun to Run, Juvenile Turf Sprint on Four Wheel Drive: 2020 Sprint on Whitmore, Juvenile Turf Sprint on Golden Pal; and 2021 Dirt Mile on Life Is Good, Turf Sprint on Golden Pal and Juvenile Turf Sprint on Twilight Gleaming (IRE); 2022 Juvenile on Forte, Filly and Mare Sprint on Goodnight Olive and Sprint on Elite Power; 2023 Classic on White Abarrio, Sprint on Elite Power and Filly and Mare Sprint on Goodnight Olive; 2025 Sprint on Bentornato, Turf Sprint on Shisospicy and Juvenile Turf Sprint on Cy Fair.
North American career earnings exceed $378.7 million with 4,428 wins through Jan. 7, 2026.
Overall win 4,000 came Oct. 13, 2024, at Keeneland when he rode Good Temper to win the first race.
Scored 3,000th win Feb. 24, 2022, aboard Order and Law in the fourth race at Gulfstream Park.
Win 2,000 came Sept. 15, 2018, on Gambler’s Fallacy in the sixth race at Belmont Park
Win 1,000 was Nov. 22, 2015, on Island Therapy in the fifth race at Aqueduct.
Background
Irad Ortiz Jr. and his year-younger brother and frequent riding rival, Jose Ortiz, are from Puerto Rico, where they graduated from the Escuela Vocacional Hipica jockey school. Their grandfather – also named Irad – and their uncle Ivan were jockeys.
Irad began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 2011 (a year before Jose began riding at Parx). That year, Irad won 151 races.
The next year, Irad received a significant opportunity from then-trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. For McLaughlin, he rode Questing (GB) to an allowance victory in June then captured the TVG Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and Alabama (G1) during a season that earned Questing the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly.
Combined the Ortiz brothers have ridden nearly 7,900 winners and the earners of almost $677 million through Jan. 7, 2026.