"After a lot of consideration, I have decided to stop riding," he tweeted. The two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey (2018-19) has not ridden since March 19, when he announced via Twitter: Irad, 27, won the leading rider title for a second consecutive year at the 2019-20 Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park and is the leader rider in North America by money won thus far in 2020. Ortiz reported that his brother Irad Ortiz Jr., whom he speaks with daily, is hunkered down with his family in their home in Hollywood, Fla. I'm trying to make the best of it, like all of us." I probably won't get time like this with them again until I retire. "I'm having fun with the kids, just getting to know them better and spending time with them. I'm enjoying this time," Ortiz said as happy shrieks from his eldest child, 2-year-old Leilani, could be heard in the background. "I've been riding since (I was) 16, for 10 years straight, and I've taken no breaks. "Honestly, I think if I watched, it would just make me want to get back quicker," he admitted.īut as precious as riding is to Ortiz, he has discovered positives connected to his time out of the saddle. Ortiz said he hasn't been watching racing – several tracks around the country, including Gulfstream Park, have continued to conduct spectator-free cards during the pandemic – in part because he's been so busy on the farm.īut perhaps the real reason has more to do with self-preservation, because viewing something from the sidelines that has given you so much joy and countless successes can't be easy for an athlete. Whenever the time comes, I will be ready." I'm going to start running again to get ready for when racing returns. "On Saturdays, I gallop for my other brother-in-law (Kevin). "I'm getting on four or five horses a morning for my brother-in-law (Adam), Monday through Friday." Ortiz said. He said he could return at Churchill Downs or Belmont Park, depending upon which track opens first. Ortiz, the 2017 Eclipse Award-winning rider, is also using this time to prepare for a return to riding. We're also working on getting the permits we need to build our house on this land." "I'm outside all the time, and I'm really enjoying it. Cut the grass, plant some oak trees, fix fences," Ortiz said by phone April 17. But with the Keeneland meet canceled and a delayed opening at Belmont Park – to a date yet to be determined – Ortiz is enjoying his new role as a gentleman farmer. If these were normal times, Ortiz would be finishing up Keeneland's spring meet and then moving his tack to New York for Belmont Park's spring stand.
This decision came at the same time COVID-19 began its rage in the United States, and Ortiz thought it was best for him and Taylor and their two young children, Leilani and Derek Jose, to decamp to the quiet environs of Ocala. After three days of competing, however, Ortiz's wrist began nagging him, and he decided it needed more time to heal. 22 in a post parade accident at Gulfstream Park and was sidelined until March 14. Taylor's father, Wayne, and two brothers, Adam and Kevin, are also trainers, as was her late grandfather, Clyde Rice, the patriarch of this racing dynasty. Her aunt, Linda Rice, is one of New York's leading trainers. Taylor Rice, a former jockey, is part of the Rice family's long lineage of horsemen and horsewomen. Ortiz hasn't ridden in a race since March 18 and has been in Ocala ever since, living with his wife's family, who are among the heart and soul of Ocala's Thoroughbred community.
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