Irad’s ride on Letruska beating Monomoy Girl might be the ride of the year, and if not, he’s got plenty of others to nominate.Īll of the above aside, I too fear that if the stewards don’t put him in check soon, someone is going to end up permanently disabled or dead- either another rider or even himself. He’s just got Breeders Cup weekend outstanding rider yet again, and has won 3 straight Eclipse Awards & in my opinion probably deserves a 4th this year (Rosario has had racing media behind him all year pushing for an Eclipse and it would be shocking if he didn’t get it – and he certainly has a case ). Nobody is disputing the fact that Irad Ortiz Jr. What this game needs from its riders now and going forward is more passenger, less jet-pilot.ġ00% agree. The physical stakes for all parties involved are much too high. There is no room for over-aggressiveness in horse racing. There are no seat belts and innocent thousand-pound animals are involved.
The thing is Thoroughbred racing is not NASCAR. “He didn’t slam into you,” said Duvall’s character, “he rubbed you, and son, rubbing is racing.”
There’s a scene in Days of Thunder in which pit boss Robert Duvall tells star stockcar driver Tom Cruise who complained that a driver needlessly slammed into him. Many can and do get away with anything, sometimes including murder. Then this is America where celebrities are treated much differently. The whole racetrack, from the backstretch to the betting window, knows this. But Ortiz does it at virtually every opportunity.
All top jockeys employ “race riding” tactics. This is not meant to solely single out Irad Ortiz Jr. I noticed all the above, including a protruding left elbow in the area where contact was made a jump or two before the finish although not noted officially.Įither way, had I been an official I would have disqualified the winner who went from the 4-path to the 2-path under right-handed urging and while Zandon drifted out ever so slightly, the contact made was initiated by the outside horse under very aggressive handling. I watched the head-on of the stewards’ view repeatedly. “MO DONAGEL … rallied outside to take the lead outside at the furlong marker, moved in closer to the runnerup under a right-handed crop at the sixteenth pole, had the rider put the crop away and throw repeated exaggerated crosses with the left rein near the face of the runnerup and narrowly prevailed while bumping with that rival near the wire …”įurther, “ZANDON dug in gamely on the inside in the final furlong … had the winner’s rider attempt to intimidate him late then bumped approaching the wire and just missed in a determined effort …” And this time his mount was not disqualified. race rode in aggressive fashion once again, albeit not as egregiously dangerous, in the Remsen Stakes. In this instance the public was protected and Omar Hernandez Moreno apparently escaped serious injury. “… Following a stewards inquiry, GRAN CACIQUE was disqualified from second and placed last for interference … “ “GRAN CACIQUE angled in with reckless abandon and bumped Ragtime Blues at the five-eighths and bumped him hard which caused that foe to lose his rider …” Ortiz was aboard Gran Cacique which, according to the official chart footnote, stated an incident in terms horseplayers seldom if ever see. The incident that drew Racing Twitter to their key pads with their all-caps keys permanently depressed began with Friday’s eighth race at Aqueduct Race Track.
The difference with respect to racing is that other professional athletes don’t have ambulance trailing them on the field of play. and make him mindful of his reckless win-at-all-cost race-rides, one of his colleagues is in danger of becoming the next permanently disabled jockey, or worse.Īgain, professional sports can be a dangerous business and big paydays reward that fact of life. Injuries and accidents are a part of any sports endeavor, particularly on the professional level when million-dollar athletes compete against each other at the highest levels of their sport.īut until officials sits down with Ortiz Jr. Star athletes receive deferential treatment, getting the benefit of every doubt.
Sometimes, the Twitterverse gets it right, and the vitriol that addressed out-of-control “race riding” was spot on, particularly as it applied to Irad Ortiz Jr., one of the sport’s brightest stars.Īnd unless stewards everywhere begin to rein in his aggressiveness, something very bad is likely to occur as a result of Ortiz Jr’s dangerous envelope-pushing.Īll sports fans are aware that “the Jordan Rules” are alive and well in professional league where they play for pay. HALLANDALE BEACH, FL, Decem– The big racing weekend that witnessed the end of the traditional New York racing season and the first Saturday of Gulfstream Park’s Championship Meet which began Friday commenced on a decidedly negative note.