When we’re in the same race, he’s just another jockey to me.” “I want to beat him, and he wants to beat me. “Whatever we play, no matter what game it is, we are competitive,” Irad told the Miami Herald earlier this year. Jose, for example, is riding the final weeks of Keeneland’s spring meet while Irad is not. They’ll travel together frequently, but they are not always together. Natives of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, the Ortiz brothers attended jockey school as teenagers, with Irad - who is named for their grandfather, who was also a jockey - entering one year before Jose.Įach has been based at Gulfstream Park, pitting them against each other frequently. You know the horse is going to be ready for it, and I’m very happy that he ended up on that horse, because I know it’s a very good horse.” A Hall of Fame trainer who has won five Derbys, you’ve got to respect that. “It’s just about if he’s going to handle the mile-and-a-quarter, and he’s got Bob in his corner. “(Irad has) a very good chance (on Improbable),” Jose said. Read this: 13 facts you didn't know about the running of the Kentucky Derby Improbable, as it turned out, will be ridden in the Kentucky Derby by Irad, who switched off Win Win Win after riding that horse into the Kentucky Derby with a second-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. “It was very hard to decide, but I stuck with the horse that was coming off the two wins,” said Jose, who also had the opportunity to stay on Plus Que Parfait, who he rode to victory in the UAE Derby. Jose was on board for each race, and he chose trainer Bill Mott’s gray colt over Bob Baffert’s Improbable, who he rode to second in the Arkansas Derby. Tacitus entered the Kentucky Derby first on the points leaderboard after victories in the Tampa Bay Derby and Wood Memorial. It has been a dream for both of us.”Īnd either could end up doing it this year, considering their quality of horses. If Jose doesn’t win the Derby, “it would be great,” if Irad did, he said. We never have a fight over horse racing.” But outside the track, we root for each other. … We keep it business when we step on the track. We’re seeing a lot of good opportunities and trying to make the best out of it. “It’s just riding for great people, great connections. A lot of people say we haven’t hit our peak,” Jose said. See also: Jockeys hustle for years to rein in a horse golden enough for the Derby Irad won the sport’s Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey for 2018. In 2018, they ranked 1-2 in jockey earnings in North America, with Irad ($27.7 million on 346 wins) edging Jose ($26.7 million on 264 wins).
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