Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. tests positive for coronavirus.
Jockey will self-isolate for 10 days in Saratoga
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who won the riding title at the recently concluded race meet at Saratoga Race Course, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
According to Pat Mckenna, director of communications for the New York Racing Association, Ortiz was tested on Monday in Saratoga as part of the protocols required by NYRA for him to resume riding at Belmont Park.
He had missed the first 10 days of the Belmont meet to serve consecutive five-day suspensions imposed by the New York State Gaming Commission for careless riding infractions in July.
According to Mckenna, Ortiz Jr. has not experienced symptoms of COVID -19.
According to protocols established and enforced by the Saratoga County Department of Health, Ortiz, 28, will selfisolate for a period of 10 days in Saratoga. The last time he rode was Sept. 16 at Kentucky Downs.
Following the completion of the period of isolation, and provided he remains asymptomatic, he will be evaluated for a return to the jockey colony at Belmont Park.
Ortiz has won the Eclipse Award as the nation's top jockey for the past two years. He won this year's Saratoga riding title for the third time when he had 59 wins, one more than his brother, Jose.
There were no positive coronavirus cases reported during the 40-day meet at Saratoga, which ran from July 16- Sept. 7. One jockey, Luis Saez, had to miss the first six days of the meet after he tested positive for the virus while riding at Keeneland in Kentucky.