Brown, Ortiz, Jr.,Dubb capture Belmont spring/summer meet titles
NYRA ELMONT, N.Y. » Trainer Chad Brown won his third consecutive Belmont Park spring/summer individual meet title, while Irad Ortiz, Jr. captured the riding title for the first time since 2014 as the 54-day meet concluded on Sunday.
Michael Dubb was the meet’s leading owner with 19 victories and earnings of more than $2.34 million.
Brown, the New York Racing Association’s leading trainer for the last three years from 2015-17, saddled 34 winners from 156 starts for an impressive 21.79 winning percentage with earnings exceeding $4.53 million. His entries finished on the board 57.05 percent of the time. His win total was 13 more than the next-closest trainer, as Christophe Clement came in second with 21 wins from 92 starts.
A native of Mechanicville, Brown won the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game for the second straight year, as the German-bred A Raving Beauty bested an eight-horse field by three-quarters of a length on Belmont Stakes Day on June 9. The day before that victory, Brown saddled Fourstar Crook to a win in the Grade 2 New York.
Ortiz, Jr. registered 60 wins with earnings of more than $5.54 million, outdistancing his brother, Jose Ortiz, and Manny Franco, who tied for second with 49 wins. The 2018 spring/ summer meet was a reversal for the Ortiz brothers from a year ago, when Jose was first and Irad came in second.
Teaming with Brown, Ortiz, Jr. was aboard both Fourstar Crook and A Raving Beauty for their respective graded stakes wins. The native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico enjoyed an outstanding Belmont Stakes Day, riding Disco Partner to a win in the Grade 2 Jaipur.
Earlier in the meet, the 25-year-old won the Grade 2 Ruffian on Pacific Wind on May 6. He also piloted Diversify to a win in the Grade 2 Suburban on Stars & Stripes Day, July 7. The efforts in the graded stakes were part of a successful meet that garnered Ortiz, Jr. his second title for the Belmont spring/summer and first since 2014, when he tied with Javier Castellano.
Dubb’s win total was more than double the next closest owner, with M and M Racing totaling eight wins for second. Dubb has finished atop NYRA’s yearend owner standings four straight years and six out of the last eight years, taking home top honors in 2010, 2012, 2014-17.
Thoroughbred action moves upstate to historic Saratoga Race Course on Friday for the summer meet, featuring 69 stakes Irad Ortiz, Jr. captured the 2018 Belmont spring/ summer riding title with 60 wins. worth $18.85 million in purses, will run from Friday, July 20, through Labor Day, September 3. After opening weekend, racing will be conducted six days a week, Wednesdays through Mondays.