Ortiz to finish out meet over 'challenging' Kentucky Downs layout
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Jose Ortiz last year won the Kentucky Downs riding title in spite of missing the opening card, prevailing on nine of his 31 mounts. He again missed opening day to ride the final weekend of Saratoga but will be at Kentucky Downs starting Thursday.
Ortiz spoke to turf journalist Mike Kane about Kentucky Downs last weekend while riding at Saratoga.
“You just have to ride your horse and try to get your horse to relax,” said the 2017 Eclipse Award riding champion. “It’s a little uphill from the mile pole to the six furlong, then from the six furlong all the way down to the quarter pole is kind of downhill — big time, like a nice hill there.
"The most important thing is to get your horse to relax and to not worry about any position. Like here, on a flat course, if your horse runs on the lead, you want to be right there. Over there, you just want them to relax. Sometimes, when it’s a mile, they don’t break that good going up the hill.
"You just have to give them time to get their legs under them.”
"The most important thing is to get your horse to relax and to not worry about any position. Like here, on a flat course, if your horse runs on the lead, you want to be right there. Over there, you just want them to relax. Sometimes, when it’s a mile, they don’t break that good going up the hill.
"You just have to give them time to get their legs under them.”
Ortiz recalled what he heard about Kentucky Downs before ever seeing the course. He went on to win four races that first meet in 2017.
“They were telling me about it and it sounded crazy,” he said. “I went there and it was a little crazy the first couple of rides. But I got to know the track well. I really like the course. It’s very unique. I think it’s great to ride every kind of track and learn from it. I also got the opportunity to ride some nice horses, which helps give me more confidence that sometimes I can be a little bit more patient, wait a little more. But it’s challenging, for sure.
“Hopefully we can continue this.”
Ortiz’s brother, 2018 Eclipse Award winner Irad Ortiz, has yet to ride at Kentucky Downs. Jose Ortiz said his brother is serving a suspension meted out at Saratoga.
“That’s the reason he’s not going, I guess, this year; he got days,” Jose said. “But we talked about it and he really wants to be there. He really wants to go. He said he’d like to ride the track. I was telling him how it is: Uphill, downhill, long stretch. He wants to go, but he can’t” this year.
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