Ortiz Jr. sets Championship Meet record
At 0h04, on March 29, 2021 • By GULFSTREAM PARK
Irad Ortiz Jr. set the single-season Championship Meet win record in style Saturday at Gulfstream Park, guiding Known Agenda to a 2 ¾-length victory in the Florida Derby.
It was the first career win in Gulfstream’s signature race for the 28-year-old Ortiz and his 138th during the country’s premier winter stand, surpassing Luis Saez’s mark of 137 set in 2017-18. Ortiz approached the record in 2018-19, but finished with 135.
“It means a lot. We work so hard. I feels so good to get the feedback from the owners and the trainers. They support me. I say thanks to all of them,” Ortiz said. “When I say all of them, I mean all of them – from the claiming races to the stakes races. We have a lot of respect for Luis. It wasn’t easy. He wins a lot of races here, too. We are so happy.”
The three-time defending Eclipse Award winner as champion jockey, Ortiz has posted 43 multi-win days at Gulfstream this winter, including a six-win effort Feb. 6 that fell just one short of the track’s single-day record shared by Saez, Tyler Gaffalione and Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.
