Irad Ortiz, Chad Brown take jockey, training titles at Saratoga
Meet concludes with record handle as well.
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Meet concludes with record handle as well.
Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. earned the Angel Cordero, Jr. Award as the leading rider at Saratoga Race Course for the fourth time, finishing with 55 wins to top Luis Saez and Flavien Prat, who tied for second with 40 wins each. Joel Rosario finished fourth with 39 wins. Ortiz has now earned 20 riding titles at NYRA racetracks.
If there was much doubt about the best 3-year-old sprinter this season, Jack Christopher (by Munnings) cleared it up with a strong victory over fellow Grade 1 winner Gunite (Gun Runner) in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga on Aug. 27.
Two-time graded stakes winner Wit drew away from five rivals to post a 2 3/4-length score Sunday in the $135,000 Better Talk Now, a one-mile inner turf test for sophomores that have never won a stakes other than state-bred at a mile or over.
When Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen started his first horse, Track Ambassador, at Ruidoso Downs in 1986, he did so with storied racetracks like Saratoga Race Course in the back of his mind as places of legend, hoping to one day make it to the Spa to leave his mark at the nation’s oldest sporting venue.