Here is all you need to know about Puerto Rican jockey Irad Ortiz Jr including his age, height, wife, bio and net worth
The upcoming grand event of Kentucky Derby has put back into the spotlight the name of jockey star Irad Ortiz once again.
He is set to participate in the upcoming 150th edition of Kentucky Derby scheduled to be held on 4 May at 6:57 PM (ET) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Who is jockey Irad Ortiz Jr, bio, age, height, weight, family, wife, salary and net worth
The secret to Irad Ortiz Jr's winning attitude? 🤫💪@JeffRubys | #KyDerby | #RarestMoments pic.twitter.com/Dmnif2PpFp
— World Horse Racing (@WHR) May 3, 2024
Who is Irad Ortiz Jr?
Irad Ortiz Jr. born on August 11, 1992 in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico is a 31 year old Puerto Rican jockey who has been a leading rider in the New York Thoroughbred horse racing circuit from the year 2012.
Birthdate: August 11, 1992 ; Birthplace: Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico ; Height: 5 feet, 3 inches ; Weight: 112 pounds
A look at Irad Ortiz Jr’s career
Ortiz began his professional riding career at Hipodromo Camarero in Puerto Rico on New Year’s Day, 2011, winning 76 out of 357 starts over the upcoming months. In June of 2011 Pito Rosa who was the friend of grandfather of Irad encouraged him to come to New York.
He also acted as Ortiz’s agent and helped him in residing and settling up in the city. In the year of 2013 Oritz catapulted to #5 rankings in North America in earnings by winning 224 races in the year and thus kickstarting his legendary career as a jockey.
In 2018 Oritz won the coveted Eclipse of The year Award for outstanding jockey for the first time and since then has won the award 5 times (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023). He has also won Shoemaker of the Year award 4 times in the years (2018, 2019,2020,2021)
Over the years, he has been a Jockey to some of the best horses in the entire country including Bar of Gold, Bricks and Mortar, Creator, Goodnight olive, Elite Power etc. In 2019, Ortiz repeated the Eclipse Award by leading in both wins and second places, as well as establishing a single-year earnings record for North American horse racing.
He won his third straight Eclipse Award in 2020 after again finishing first on both the earnings and wins list. Thus, since 2017 he has been ranked Number 1 in wins consecutively till 2022 and has been the leading earner in most of the years since 2017.
A look at Irad Ortiz Jr’s family
Born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico. His grandfather, also named Irad Ortiz, was a jockey, as was uncle Ivan Ortiz. His younger brother, Jose Ortiz, is also a leading jockey in New York. Ortiz has a daughter, Sarai, born in 2015. Ortiz Jr. is married to Melissa Betancourt.
A year after setting the earnings record, Ortiz did it again in 2023 with $39,192,585 and led all jockeys in wins (366) for the seventh consecutive year. His net worth stands at $20 million.