![]() ![]() He took his first riding title during Aqueduct's 2012-13 inner track meet. Highlights included wins in the King's Bishop Stakes, Champagne Stakes and Carter Handicap. In 2013, Ortiz won 224 races and vaulted to the #5 ranking in North America by earnings. He finished second in the Eclipse Award voting for Outstanding Apprentice Jockey his loss may have been due to spending the majority of the year as a journeyman rider. Ortiz finished the year ranked #17 in North America by earnings. Ortiz and Questing would also win the Alabama Stakes, and Questing would earn the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old filly. When the filly won, McLaughlin retained Ortiz for the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga in what would become Ortiz's first Grade 1 victory. In June 2012, Ortiz got his big break when trainer Kiaran McLaughlin put him on the filly Questing in an allowance race. In February 2012, Ortiz "lost his bug", meaning he was no longer an apprentice and lost the weight allowance given to one. He would finish the year with 151 wins from 1,016 starts. Ortiz rode his first race at Belmont Park on June 17 and won his first American race on June 24 aboard Millennium Jet. Rosa also found an agent for Ortiz and acted as a mentor while Ortiz was settling in. In June, Pito Rosa, who works in the NYRA jockeys' room and was an old friend of Ortiz's grandfather, encouraged Ortiz to come to New York. ![]() Ortiz began his professional riding career at Hipódromo Camarero in Puerto Rico on New Year’s Day, 2011, winning 76 of 357 starts over the following months. ![]()
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