Tag Archives: Preakness Stakes

Jose Ortiz Rides Early Voting to Victory to Claim His First-Ever Preakness Stakes Title

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Jose Ortiz is celebrating a major win…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican jockey rode Early Voting to victory at the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, giving him his first win in five tries at the race.

Jose Ortiz, Preakness Stakes,Early Voting held off hard-charging favorite Epicenter for the win.

Early Voting stalked the leaders for much of the race before moving into first around the final turn and finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Epicenter, who was second just like in the Kentucky Derby.

The initial plan in the Preakness was for Early Voting not to wait and for jockey Jose Ortiz to take him to the lead. That looked especially important on a day when the dirt track at Pimlico Race Course was favoring speed and making it hard for horses to come from behind down the stretch.

But when Armagnac jumped out to the lead, Ortiz settled Early Voting, who had plenty left in the tank before the finish line with Epicenter threatening inside at the rail.

“I was never worried,” trainer Chad Brown said. “Once we had a good target, I actually preferred that. We were fine to go to the lead, but I thought down the back side it was going to take a good horse to beat us. And a good horse did run up on us near the wire and it was about the only one that could run with us.”

After just two Triple Crown winners in the past four-plus decades, Rich Strike owner Rick Dawson took plenty of criticism for skipping the Preakness because he felt the horse needed more rest to prepare for the Belmont Stakes on June 11.

Some of that might be muted in the aftermath of Early Voting’s impressive performance.

“That’s very hard to get an owner to pass on the Derby, and they did the right choice,” said Ortiz. “The horse, I don’t think he was seasoned enough to run in a 20-horse field and they proved that they were right today. I’ve been on him since he was a baby. We always knew he was very talented, but we knew he was going to be a late developer.”

Early Voting’s owner Seth Klarman and Brown cast doubt on the possibility of Early Voting taking on Rich Strike in the Belmont to make it a showdown between the Derby and Preakness winners. They said Early Voting might not be suited for the mile-and-a-half Belmont.

But Early Voting had no problem with 1 3/16 miles in the Preakness, which did not have a blazing fast pace like the Derby.

“It’s just beautiful when a plan comes together,” Brown said.

Early Voting, who went off at 5-1, gave Brown his second Preakness victory. Cloud Computing, the 2017 winner, is also owned by Klarman’s Klaravich Stables.

“Cloud Computing was a once in a lifetime and now I have a twice in a lifetime,” said Klarman, who grew up three blocks from Pimlico and was celebrating his 65th birthday. “Really hard to believe it could’ve happened.”

Early Voting won the race in 1:54.54 and paid $13.40, $4.60 and $3.60. Epicenter paid $2.80 and $2.40 for place and show, and Creative Minister was third and paid $4.20 to show.

Although Epicenter was passed by Rich Strike in the Derby and couldn’t make a similar move in the Preakness, it was a familiar feeling for trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Joel Rosario. A disappointed Asmussen said his horse “just had too much to overcome” after a rough start.

“I couldn’t get my position,” Rosario said. “I had nowhere to go. You just have to stay there and hopefully at some point it opens up. It was really tight the whole way.”

Early Voting finished first in a field of nine horses, which included D. Wayne Lukas-trained filly Secret Oath and three who came back after running in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. Secret Oath finished fourth 15 days after winning the Kentucky Oaks.

“She made a big, sweeping run,” Lukas said. “It just wasn’t her day.”

Early Voting, a son of Gun Runner, won for the third time in four career races to take the $900,000 winner’s share of the $1.65 million purse. Asmussen said, “Early Voting is the winner of the Preakness and deserves all the credit for doing so — and nothing but.”

The 147th edition of the Preakness took place in near-record heat with the temperature soaring to 90 when the horses left the starting gate.

John R. Velazquez Rides Medina Spirit to Kentucky Derby Win

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John R. Velazquez has the winning spirit…

The 49-year-old Puerto Rican jockey rode Medina Spirit at Saturday’s 147th Kentucky Derby, which saw fans return to Churchill Downs, after a year away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

John R. Velazquez

The three-year-old race horse, trained by two-time Triple Crown winner Bob Baffert, was ridden to victory by Velazquez, besting two-year-old Essential Quality, who was the favorite to win.

Medina Spirit’s odds of winning coming into the race were 12-1.

Mandaloun—ridden by jockey Florent Geroux—came in second place. And third place went to Hot Rod Charlie, the dark bay colt ridden by Flavien Prat.

Medina Spirit’s triumph brought Baffert into the lead, in terms of Derby wins by a trainer, with seven.

Velazquez was coming off another major win on Friday at the Kentucky Oaks competition, atop undefeated American Thoroughbred, Malathaat.

While the Kentucky Derby typically attracts a crowd of more than 150,000 people, today’s event was held at limited capacity, with just 51,838 spectators present. At the sporting events, socially-distanced spectators were required to wear masks when they weren’t eating or drinking, though some of those in attendance reportedly refused to comply.

After a year that saw the Derby held in the absence of fans, it returned to its regular spot on the calendar this year, along with the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, the two other races one needs to win, in order to claim the coveted Triple Crown.

Preakness Stakes is set for May 15, with Belmont Stakes following on June 5.

Velasquez was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012.

Espinoza Rides American Pharoah to Triple Crown Greatness

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Victor Espinoza has jockeyed his way into the history books…

American Pharoah, with the 43-year-old Mexican jockey at the reins, won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

Victor Espinoza
Affirmed had been the last horse to win the Triple Crown, taking the most coveted prize in horse racing in 1978.

American Pharoah lived up to expectations on Saturday, pulling away from its challengers in the last stretch of the 147th Belmont Stakes and becoming just the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown.

“It’s very emotional,” American Pharoah’s trainer, Bob Baffert, said. “What a feeling. It’s probably going to take a few days to sink in.”

The horse, which is owned by Zayat Stables, won the Kentucky Derby on May 2 and the Preakness Stakes two weeks later, taking the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Baffert and Espinoza had come up short in five previous bids between them to win the Triple Crown.

“He walked into the gate amazing,” Espinoza said. “He was ready today. As soon as I sat in the saddle, there was so much power and so much energy this horse had. He trained perfect, just unbelievable coming into the race.”

American Pharoah ended the longest streak without a Triple Crown winner in the history of American horse racing, with 13 horses losing in the Belmont Stakes after winning the first two races in the series.

The previous longest stretch without a Triple Crown winner was 25 years, spanning the time from Citation’s victory in 1948 to Secretariat’s win in 1973.

“It’s just an amazing thing. It’s just unbelievable how things work out. It’s just an amazing horse like American Pharoah. I was coming to this race with so much confidence the last two times. It’s just unbelievable,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza won the first two legs of the Triple Crown with War Emblem in 2002 and California Chrome last year, but he came up short each time at Belmont.