Eclipse Awards: Ortiz faces challenges from Castellano, Prat
Quality vs. quantity vs. signature wins. Those are the arguments to be made for the three jockeys most deserving of consideration for the Eclipse Award.
Irad Ortiz Jr. has piled up some of the biggest numbers of a career that has made him the Eclipse winner four of the last five years.
Flavien Prat has not had as many starts, but he has made the most of them.
Javier Castellano finally completed a career Triple Crown by getting his first victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.
Take your pick. About 250 media and racing-industry voters will do just that before the ballot deadline Wednesday.
Here are the cases to be made, alphabetically:
Javier Castellano
Why he will win. A Hall of Famer who captured this award four years in a row from 2013 to 2016, Castellano was an upset winner twice when he ended his personal droughts of 0-for-15 in the Derby and 0-for-14 in the Belmont. Mage was 15-1 when he won at Churchill Downs, and Arcangelo was 7-1. Castellano also rode to Grade 1 victories with Fev Rover in the Beverly D. and E. P. Taylor, Bright Future in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Therapist at 12-1 in the United Nations. It truly was a comeback year for Castellano, 46, who lost a lot of time and business to COVID and hip surgery in 2020 and 2021. That rebound may carry weight with some voters.
Why he will not. It does not actually say so in writing, but the Eclipse is not meant to be a lifetime-achievement award, and some voters are adamant about that. Castellano’s 144 wins through Tuesday rank him no better than 38th in the U.S. and Canada, and his 16 graded-stakes wins are tied for ninth. His strike rate in producing winners is only 14.5 percent.
Irad Ortiz Jr.
Why he will win. Ortiz has been no. 1 in so many categories in recent years that it is hard to remember when he was not at the top of these lists in the U.S. and Canada. Through Tuesday he had 360 wins and $38,845,515 in 2023 earnings, both career highs. He also leads with wins in 15 Grade 1 races and 41 graded stakes overall this year for $19,394,812 of his purse money. His biggest triumph of 2023 came with horse-of-the-year candidate White Abarrio last month in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Ortiz, 31, also rode to a combined seven Grade 1 victories on likely division champions Elite Power, Goodnight Olive and Up to the Mark and two more on Eclipse candidate In Italian. His rides produced winners in 23.5 percent of his starts, and his 56.7 percent rate at finishing in the money is the third among jockeys with at least 200 races in 2023. This summer Ortiz won his fifth Saratoga riding title.
Why he will not. Among jockeys with at least 100 starts this year, Ortiz’s $25,356 per race rank fourth behind Florent Géroux, Prat and John Velázquez. Impressive, yes, but when trying to parse a single winner from a list of finalists, that could be a demerit. Through Tuesday he had 625 more starts than Prat but averaged $3,833 less per race. Ortiz still has yet to win America’s biggest race. His 18th-place finish on Cyclone Mischief made him 0-for-7 in the Kentucky Derby. Ortiz’s reputation for being fearlessly aggressive in races is an intangible that may rub some voters the wrong way. His physical path to victory on Forte in the Jim Dandy (G2) was a flashpoint during the Saratoga summer, and he was handed four three-day suspensions this year for careless riding.
Flavien Prat
Why he will win. He had about half as many starts as Ortiz, but Prat punched above his weight. He has 40 graded-stakes victories compared with 41 for Ortiz, whom he trails only 15-13 in Grade 1 wins. Even though he has had 105 fewer starts this year than last, Prat has $26,474,584 in earnings, nearly matching his career high from 2022. His average of $29,189 per race is second only to Géroux among jockeys with at least 100 starts. His most impressive win this year may have been on Hard to Justify, whose 3-for-3 season was culminated with a 9-1 upset victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Prat, 31, rode 11 different horses to Grade 1 wins this year.
Why he will not. If the prism is raw numbers, Prat comes up short of Ortiz in every major category. It is not just a case of Ortiz having so many more opportunities. Prat also trails Ortiz in percentages of wins 23-20 and in-the-money finishes 57-51. Prat did not have the same indelible moments he did last year with Flightline in the Pacific Classic (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Classic. Even those did not carry him to an Eclipse Award.
One voter’s conclusion
Castellano had the feel-good story this year with his renaissance, and Prat did more with less, but they still came up at least a step or two shy of Ortiz.
It is hard to imagine Ortiz topping the years he already has on his résumé, but he has done just that in 2023.
Prat and Castellano belong in the conversation, but Ortiz should win his fifth Eclipse Award to tie him with Laffit Pincay Jr., who collected his between 1971 and 1985. With seven, only Jerry Bailey has more. That target is within sight now for Ortiz.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story mistakenly credited Prat with the victory on Pretty Mischievous in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Tyler Gaffalione actually had that ride.