Mike Smith stands alone atop the jockey rankings by winners for the Breeders’ Cup, which held its first edition of the World Championships in 1984, and for many years he had no peer. From his first win with Lure in 1992 to his most recent with Corniche in 2021, the Hall of Famer’s 27 wins (and $38.4 million in purse earnings) set the standard for all riders who compete on those championship Fridays and Saturdays. Narrowing the gap behind him on that list is Irad Ortiz Jr., who has amassed 20 Breeders’ Cup wins since his first mount in 2012 and is on pace to eclipse Smith’s record.

The Puerto Rico native debuted as an apprentice in New York in 2011 and, in his 13 seasons on the racetrack, has made his mark on the sport’s biggest days, not only winning most major graded stakes – some multiple times – but also notching two Belmont Stakes victories with Creator in 2016 and Mo Donegal in 2022.

Ortiz had his first Breeders’ Cup mount aboard Questing in the 2012 Ladies’ Classic (Distaff), a race Smith won aboard Royal Delta, and his first victory in 2014 with Lady Eli in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. A decade later, this five-time Eclipse award winner is tied in second place on the all-time wins list with another fellow Puerto Rican, Hall of Famer John Velazquez.  

For Ortiz himself, Breeders’ Cup “[are two] of my favorite days of the whole year,” his affection for those championship days built during his childhood in Trujillo Alto, a suburb of the capital San Juan.

Brothers Jose, left, and Irad Ortiz Jr. at 2021 Breeders' Cup. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Irad and his younger brother José Ortiz are the third generation of riders in the Ortiz family. Their grandfather Irad Ortiz Adorno rode at El Nuevo Comandante, now Hipódromo Camarero, the island’s premier racetrack, and then moved his tack to the mainland, riding in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Ohio in the 1980s; their uncle Ivan was an active jockey from 1994 to 2009. Irad and José, who are about 14 months apart in age, both grew up learning to ride ponies and watching racing with their father.

“I grew up watching Puerto Rican horse racing, but those big days, my dad would have on the races like the Breeders’ Cup and the Kentucky Derby,” Irad recalled. “I loved the shots, the different shots when they got you after the wire, when they showed the rider. It looks so professional when I see those shots and all of the presentations, how they throw the flowers in slow motion when they go to commercial. I fell in love with it.”

With his sights set on becoming a jockey, Ortiz attended the two-year program at the Escuela Vocacional Hípica (Vocational Equestrian School of Puerto Rico), a vocational high school for aspiring riders at Hipódromo Camarero. He graduated to apprentice status at age 18, starting his professional career in Puerto Rico in January 2011 and then moving to New York that spring. Brother José completed the same program and joined Irad in his new home the following year.

Ortiz after 2023 Breeders’ Cup Sprint win on Elite Power. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Irad graduated to journeyman in early 2012. Last Sunday at Keeneland, he earned career win 4,000 by riding Good Temper to a front-running victory in the first race on the card. Ortiz has accumulated that impressive number in less than 20,000 starts. In an era where jockeys are riding longer – Mike Smith, 59, has been active since the early 1980s while John Velazquez, 52, started riding professionally in 1990 – the sky is the limit for the 32-year-old. Given his success, what keeps this top jock going?

“I love to compete,” Ortiz shared. “I love what I do. You have at least 10, 12 riders out there trying to do the same thing you do. They all try to win. So competing is what makes me motivated every single day.”

That spirit does not stop when the race day is over. In addition to spending time with his family, including his wife, Melissa, and their three daughters, Ortiz likes to watch sports and play video games, often with his brother and other riders, fueling that appetite for competition in his leisure time as well.

Alongside that drive to win, the joy Ortiz has in his work keeps him coming back for more, continually looking for ways “to get better every single day. When you keep learning and stay focused and do the right things inside and outside the track, you have the whole package.”

Ortiz built on his childhood riding skills while at jockey school in Puerto Rico; as a veteran pro, he continues to find learning experiences in his day-to-day work.

“On a horse, it’s very, very, very fast when you have to make a decision. You learn from your mistakes since you are going to have just a short time to make that decision,” Ortiz said. “You keep learning with experience.

Irad Ortiz after first Breeders’ Cup win on Lady Eli. (Eclipse Sportswire)

“Sometimes you used to do something, maybe you hurry up in a race, but now with experience, you just wait. And that makes you better.”

Whether he is riding on a regular race day or in the Kentucky Derby or a Breeders’ Cup race, the champion rider maintains the same routine, keeping up with his physical fitness and handicapping each race. That steady, disciplined approach to each race day means that owners and trainers continue to give Ortiz opportunities, knowing that “whatever I do out there, I just try to be myself and try to do my best.”

Ortiz has secured mounts in each of the Triple Crown races – he yet to notch a Kentucky Derby win, one of the few goals he still seeks, and came close to winning a Preakness with second-place finishes on Midnight Bourbon (2021) and Blazing Sevens (2023) – and nearly every Breeders’ Cup since that first ride in 2012. With 20 Breeders’ Cup wins, Irad Ortiz is no stranger to the winner’s circle, but each visit “has been very important. But the first one, Lady Eli, she was very special. I wanted it so bad, and she gave it to me. I don’t forget any of them, but that one, I will never forget that one for sure.”

As he looks forward to another Breeders’ Cup, to more chances to celebrate by throwing flowers from the winner’s blanket in the air, Ortiz “just tries to stay humble with my legs on the ground and just try to keep being the same person I’ve been my whole life.”

That humility keeps the five-time champion focused on what he loves, connecting with horses and trying to get better at his job each day. That drive is what keeps trainers and owners coming back to the champion rider and brings Irad Ortiz Jr. closer to Smith’s record 27 wins.

“I have so much respect for Mike. He’s been great in the sport and still doing it,” Ortiz observed. “I’m just happy to be close [to his record]. It’s amazing.”