Irad Ortiz Jr. scored a milestone victory at Gulfstream Park’s 2023-24 Championship Meet. (Nicole Thomas)
Defending Riding Titlist ‘At Home’ at Gulfstream Park
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Pool Estimated at $325,000
Gulfstream Today
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Irad Ortiz Jr. reached the 100-win milestone for the 2023-2024 Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park Thursday afternoon while guiding Gambling Holiday ($3.20) into the winner’s circle following Race 5, a 1 1/16-mile turf event for 3-year-olds.
Ortiz, who rode 128 winners last season to win his fourth Championship Meet title, is currently sitting atop the jockey standings in his title defense.
“It was a goal, just to hit 100. A couple weeks ago I started looking at it and I wanted to hit 100 before I left. I wasn’t too far away from 100, but it’s not easy to win races here against all these guys that are great riders. We have a good colony right now with a lot of talent,” Ortiz said. “You need the horses and thank God we got there. It’s great to win here.”
Ortiz has won more than 100 races in six of his seven seasons at Gulfstream. Since his first full winter in 2017-2018, Ortiz had won 699 races at Gulfstream heading into the 2023-2024 Championship Meet, an average of 116.5 per season. He had led the standings four times, winning a track-record 140 races in 2020-2021, and had been first in purse earnings five consecutive years including 2021-2022, when he rode just 279 races and finished with 80 wins and $5.05 million.
“I love this track, I love all the people here. They are great with me, and they make me feel like I’m home and I feel at home. I have a house here and I enjoy my time here,” he said. “I’m looking forward to keep doing what we’ve been doing the last couple years. I know it’s not easy, but we’re going to keep working hard.”
Friday’s Rainbow 6 Pool Estimated at $325,000
Friday’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 pool is expected to grow to an estimated $325,000 at Gulfstream Park, where the popular multi-race wager went unsolved for a seventh racing day following a March 3 mandatory payout.
The Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 4-9, including a well-stocked seven-furlong entry-level optional claiming allowance for 3-year-old fillies in Race 5. Trainer Brian Lynch, who is enjoying a fruitful Championship Meet, is represented in the field by graded stakes-placed Hot Beach, a daughter of Omaha Beach who broke her maiden in the Ellis Park Debutante before checking in third in the Pocahontas (G3) at Churchill last season. She hasn’t run since finishing second in the Oct. 27 Myrtlewood at Keeneland.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day’s pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
*Who’s Hot*
Trainer George Weaver doubled on turf with Chaplin ($8.20) sprinting five furlongs in Race 3 and Gambling Holiday ($3.20) at 1 1/16 miles in Race 5. Jockey Paco Lopez notched two wins aboard Fort Charles ($2.40) in Race 1 and Gunesh ($22.40) in Race 8.
