Irad Ortiz Jr., Brad Cox, Spendthrift win Keeneland titles
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., trainer Brad Cox and owner Spendthrift Farm topped their categories by victories to win titles at Keeneland, where the fall meet ended Saturday.
Ortiz, who earned his second title as Keeneland’s leading rider, had 25 wins, boosted by three three-win days. He captured four stakes including the Grade 1 Turf Mile on Rhetorical, the Bourbon (G2) on Final Score, the Phoenix (G2) on Nakatomi and the Fayette (G3) on Hit Show.
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Also the leading jockey at the 2024 spring meet, Ortiz had eight more wins than Tyler Gaffalione in second. They were followed by Ortiz’s brother José with 16 wins and Luis Sáez with 15 wins.
Hall of Fame jockey John Velázquez turned in a noteworthy season by winning 13 races and equaling a 27-year-old riding mark. Velazquez won five races on Oct. 4, something he has done twice in his career, and he captured seven stakes during the season to tie Hall of Famer Pat Day, who won seven stakes during the 1998 fall meet.
The race for leading trainer was determined on closing day when Cox took two races to post a season total of 12 wins, edging Brendan Walsh with 11 victories and securing for Cox his eighth title as leading trainer. At this year’s spring meet, he and Walsh shared the title.
Steve Asmussen, Thoroughbred racing’s winningest trainer in North America with 11,018 victories and a member of the Hall of Fame, won 11 races to finish in a tie with Walsh for second.
Asmussen’s son Keith rode seven winners for his father and had eight wins overall.
The race for Keeneland’s all-time winningest trainer was led jointly by Rusty Arnold and Bill Mott before to the start of the fall season. It got the slightest of separation when Arnold won two races to reach 309 victories. Mott had one victory during the meet to post his 308th Keeneland win.
Spendthrift Farm had six wins from eight starters to outpace owners. Its stakes victories were in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) with Ted Noffey and the Alcibiades (G1) with Tommy Jo. In partnership with Repole Stable, Spendthrift co-owned a seventh winner.
C R K Stable and Shortleaf Stable each had three wins.