#Irad ortiz news crack

He hasn’t missed any training,” said Mike Repole, co-owner of Forte. “He’s doing great, he’s training really well. He was on a vets' list that kept him out of the Preakness, but has since come off it. 2 post.įorte was the early Derby favorite, but was scratched by Kentucky officials the morning of the May 6 race because of a bruised right foot. Pletcher’s other horse, Tapit Trice, is the 3-1 second choice and drew the No. 6 post in the nine-horse field on Saturday at Belmont Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the colt will break from the No. The colt, who was scratched the day of the Kentucky Derby, is the early favorite for the Belmont Stakes.įorte, last year’s 2-year-old champion, was made the slight 5-2 favorite on Tuesday for the grueling 1 1/2-mile race.

#Irad ortiz news crack

His whole team, they did a great job and they had him ready.Forte is finally getting a crack at running in a Triple Crown race. The victory was There Goes Harvard’s third consecutive following a pair of wins in optional claimers at Santa Anita. I mean, a mile and a quarter, he ran a big race. “Today, I just left him there, I was not fighting with him at all and he tried really hard. “He was pretty strong early today,” he said. You hope you’re lucky enough to participate, let alone win.”Ĭedillo, who has ridden Defunded in his past five races, was proud of the 4-year-old gelding’s effort. “These are the kinds of races you get up for in the morning.

“I got a little emotional, but things just worked out properly. “I was pretty excited when I saw him stick his head in front coming to the three-sixteenths pole,” the 51-year-old Ohio native said. McCarthy, a former Todd Pletcher assistant, is well aware of the historic nature of the Gold Cup, which was run for the 84th time Monday. It was his fourth lifetime win and he more than doubled his earnings ($455,090) with the first-place check for $240,000.Īdare Manor earns another Santa Anita victory The second-longest shot in the five-horse field, There Goes Harvard collared pacesetter Defunded in the final sixteenth of a mile and drew off to a one-length victory. “The horse is doing well and sometimes you just have to take a chance.” “It was a short field, and sometimes you just gotta take a shot,” McCarthy said. He finished second in his only stakes before Monday, finishing second in the Ellis Park Derby last summer in Kentucky. I enjoy it.”There Goes Harvard, a 4-year-old Will Take Charge colt, was making his graded-stakes debut in his 12th career start. The victory was Ortiz’s first in the Gold Cup and gave trainer Michael McCarthy his first in the historic race that was run at Hollywood Park before the track closed up shop in 2013. He won four of the afternoon’s first five races and finished second in the race he didn’t win. The 29-year-old native of Puerto Rico flew to Southern California from New York after Sunday’s card at Belmont Park and made himself at home in warm and sunny Southern California.Ī winner of three Eclipse Awards as the nation’s top jockey (2018-20), Ortiz won two of the three Grade I stakes Monday at Santa Anita, including the $400,000 Hollywood Gold Cup aboard 8-1 shot There Goes Harvard.