Ortiz on Barber Road: 'We belong' in the Kentucky Derby

Louisville, Ky.

Among the 2022 Kentucky Derby contenders, Barber Road is not exactly a standout.

He’s ranked No. 13 on the leaderboard with 58 qualifying points. After winning two straight races to close out last year, he has no victories in five starts this year. But those five starts all were in stakes, three of them graded. And Barber Road finished second in four of those five starts – including the Arkansas Derby (G1) and Southwest (G3) – and third in the other, the Rebel (G2).

Those efforts have trainer Johnny Ortiz feeling confident about Barber Road’s chances ahead of the May 7 Derby.

“There's nothing else I can ask for this horse,” Ortiz said during a backside interview at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning. “He’s done everything he possibly can to get himself over here – I'm just lucky to be a part of this trip.

“Obviously, every single horse in this race is going to have to step out and run their best," he said. "And as we’re expecting from all our competitors, and ourselves as well, Barber Road is going to have to step it up a little bit. And honestly, more than anything, we’ve just got to get a little bit of racing luck and get that perfect trip. He runs into trouble – horses always seem to be stopping in front of him. And that comes with the type of horse that he is, his running style. He's a closer, so he's going to always end up seeing some traffic as he's making his move.”

So why the confidence in a closer in a 20-horse field in a race that has become less amenable to closers?

“He's a smart horse,” Ortiz said. “He knows that the race is won at the wire, at the end, not at the beginning. So he paces himself. And he's smart. He listens very well to his riders – in the morning and in the afternoon. He's a very intelligent horse, he does listen to cues that his riders are asking of him. So that's going to be the key. It's just the relationship between Reylu (Gutierrez) and Barber Road.”

Ortiz also believes Barber Road will welcome the added distance of the Kentucky Derby. The Arkansas Derby, at 1 1/8 miles, is the farthest he’s gone.

“Every time he runs, with traffic or no traffic, whenever he gets an opportunity to clear, you see he's always galloping out in front of everybody else. He doesn't just pass – after the wire, he continues to run after the wire for another quarter mile. And then I've caught him galloping out in 24 after the race, so I'm excited for these extra quarter miles.”

Ortiz has come a long way since going out on his own in 2016 after working for the likes of Bill Mott, Graham Motion and Barclay Tagg. He told Trainer magazine in February that one of his goals was to win 20 races at Oaklawn. He already has 25 with two weeks to go in the meet, good for third place.

Another goal he mentioned for that report was the Breeders’ Cup.

“At the end of the day, the Breeders Cup is everybody's goal," he told Horse Racing Nation Tuesday. It should be everybody's goal. It's definitely my goal. When I took up a job as a trainer, I remember one interview I had, they asked me what I want to do for the long term as a trainer, and I said, ‘Well, I'm not going to start training unless I'm going to be a champion trainer. I'm not going to do this unless I become a champion trainer, or at least try the effort.’

“Because anybody can be a trainer. To get to the Breeders’ Cup, to win the Breeders’ Cup, to win the Kentucky Derby, to make it to the Kentucky Derby – it's a big deal. So we belong. I'm confident, and that's one of my biggest feelings that I've had this whole year is confidence. Because I think my team is set up right now.”

Lest you think Barber Road is the only thing Ortiz has going for him in his barn right now, he rattled off the names of several horses that have been very good for him.

“We have Mucho, Hollis, Top Gunner, who's a horse who's really coming up the ranks right now for us. Lil Kings Princess has dominated the two-turn races at Oaklawn this year. Novel Squall, Joyful Cadence – a Runhappy half sister to Country Grammer.”

Plus, Ortiz said he has an “arsenal” of 2-year-olds. “We have about 20-something 2-year-olds already in training, and we have about 12 horses at Keeneland right now, those horses we're trying to run back for the meet. The 2-year-olds, they look incredible. Every year that we see these 2-year-olds, they just look better and better and better. And you know we're expecting a very great end of the year. I want to see a full string of horses in November at Keeneland for the Breeders Cup, and I think it's possible.”

One secret to Ortiz’ success might be his approach to his employees: They all are on salary.

“I noticed sometimes, especially when you play in the claiming game, you fluctuated between horses – one day I have 20 and one day I have 15. But right now, luckily, we have over 50 horses in training. So the group always has five, six, seven horses to groom. And when they're not worried about money, they're worried about doing a good job for you. They (don’t wonder), is my check going to be $100 less this week, or is it gonna be a full check? So now that they all get a full check every week, and they know that whether they have an extra horse or not, they're not distracted from doing a good job.”

There’s no way to know how much that strategy contributes to on-the-track performance for Ortiz’ horses. But the $2.7 million in earnings he racked up last year was nearly double his best year before. And this year looks to bring bigger things – Ortiz already has nearly $2.2 million in earnings.

“We're excited about all these horses and more so right now that summer is coming up. We've got Saratoga coming up, we've got Churchill. We're ready to experience a new level of success, a new level of competition as well.”