Irad Ortiz ekes out Belmont riding title as Brown breaks win mark

The Belmont Park jockeys race came down to the wire, but perennial title winner Irad Ortiz Jr. fended off Dylan Davis on Sunday with three victories in the final day of the track's spring/summer meeting.

Ortiz clinched his 19th riding title on the New York Racing Association circuit by riding two winners on Sunday's final day, overcoming a one-race deficit entering the card.

Ortiz evened the score with a victory aboard Lady Yellen in Race 1 before coming away with a one-win advantage aboard First to Act in Race 5. With the top two riders slated to ride in two more races, Ortiz, Jr. clinched the title - his 19th on the NYRA circuit - with a thrilling finish in Race 7 aboard Queen Bourbon to post his 48th win of the meet. 

Davis came back to win Race 9 aboard Dream of a Day, coming up one victory short of a tie.

“It feels great,” said Ortiz. “Honestly, we’ve been working so hard since the year started. Hard work, a lot of dedication. We’ve been out there every day that they ask for me. It feels good when you win a title. We love to win the meet; it’s not easy, but thank God we got it done today. Thanks to my agent Steve Rushing for doing an amazing job. It was great. Dylan had a great meet, also.”

Ortiz’s meet was one to remember, highlighted by his second Belmont Stakes victory atop the Todd Pletcher-trained Mo Donegal. He was aboard for some of Chad Brown’s memorable victories as well, guiding Bleecker Street home in the Grade 1 New York and McKulick in the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) on Saturday, a day in which he also won the Suburban (G2) for Pletcher aboard Dynamic One.

“What can I say? The Belmont Stakes was great,” Ortiz said as he reflected on his successes. “Yesterday was great, Dynamic One and McKulick – she’s such a nice filly. I got on her when she was a 2-year-old and she was very impressive.”

Meanwhile, trainer Chad Brown notched a record-extending seventh consecutive training title at the Belmont meeting with 47 victories, the most wins earned by a trainer at a Belmont spring/summer meet. The Belmont spring/summer meet was conducted for 44 days from April 28 through July 10.

The previous training record of 44 victories, set by David Jacobson at the 56-day 2013 spring/summer meet, was broken when 3-year-old filly Demandsrespect graduated at fourth asking in a July 4 maiden special weight over the main track.

“My team should be very proud of themselves and proud of what they did,” Brown said of setting the meet record. “Obviously, it’s never been done and they deserve every bit of it.”

Brown’s successes at the meeting include 12 graded stakes victories, capped by a remarkable Belmont Stakes Racing Festival weekend when he scored four Grade 1s with Jack Christopher (Woody Stephens), Regal Glory (Just a Game), Bleecker Street (New York) and Tribhuvan (Manhattan). On Saturday, 3-year-old filly McKulick delivered a sparkling performance to win the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1), giving Brown his sixth win in that event.

Brown also saw Gerrymander assert herself into the sophomore filly division with a strong win in the Mother Goose (G2) and his fifth-consecutive win in the Fort Marcy (G2) with L’Imperator. His other graded winners included Grade 2 winners Consumer Spending (Wonder Again], Search Results (Ruffian), Virginia Joy (Sheepshead Bay), and Grade 3 winners Rougir (Beaugay) and Masen (Poker).

In total, Brown closed out the meet with a record of 153: 47-30-22, and earnings of $5,776,633. He posted a win percentage of 30.72 and finished in-the-money at a 64.71 percent clip.

“This was a historic meet for me, my team, my clients and, most importantly, the horses, who do all the work,” said Brown. “I’m a very fortunate person to be around the horses, staff and owners. I’m so happy for all of them.”

Christophe Clement finished second with 33 wins and Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher finished third with 25.

Michael Dubb paced all other owners with 16 wins