In his exclusive column, Shane Dye breaks down Jose Ortiz’s extraordinary Kentucky Derby ride, argues America’s jockeys are the best in the world, and recalls the moment Gary Stevens changed the way he saw riding forever.
Jose Ortiz's ride on Golden Tempo in the Kentucky Derby — beating his brother Irad in a fighting finish — was exceptional. A ride that deserves to be studied. And a perfect example of why I believe some of the best jockeys in the world right now are based in America.
The two greatest riders I've seen are Lester Piggott and Gary Stevens. I rode against both. Stevens was American and, in the 1990s, he came to Hong Kong for a short stint and proved just how good he was.
Golden Tempo was a 22-to-one outsider, drawn in the middle. Ortiz crossed the field, settled the horse at the tail and let them go. He was 30 lengths off the leader at one point. At no stage did he push and try and be closer. To do that takes enormous self-belief. You have to not care what anyone says. You have to trust that you're doing the best thing for the horse — not the safest thing for your reputation.
Most jockeys ride not to lose — they take the percentage play, avoid criticism, stay safe. Look at Christophe Lemaire on Masquerade Ball in the QEII Cup the week before. He rode the safe race and, I believe, didn't give his horse the best chance.
Ortiz did the opposite. At around the 1,000-meter mark, he went to come out wide — you can see it perfectly on the overhead drone shot. Then, in a split second, he spots his brother Irad's colors ahead, switches back inside and tucks in behind him. That decision won the race. It saved ground, saved energy, and gave him a cart into the straight on Irad's back.
He peeled off at the 200 and had all the energy in the world.
Now, his brother Irad rode an incredible race too. Many good judges rate him the best jockey in the world. Watch his finish on Renegade. At the furlong, he hits the horse once in the right hand — hard — and within one stride switches to the left and cracks it again. The strength is unbelievable. It's a skill you don't hear talked about enough — switching whip hands quickly, in rhythm. Moreira does it brilliantly. But the Americans hit harder. It's clean, sharp and devastating.
Those boys ride over 300 winners a year. Irad's mounts earned over US$40 million in prize money last season — a world record. Jose's earned US$34 million. At 10 per cent of the winner's share, they're taking home serious money. James McDonald's best season in Australia was A$36 million — at 5 per cent, that's about A$1.8 million. Irad's 10 per cent of US$40 million is roughly A$6 million. There's no comparison.
Ask the top jockeys where the best riders are based and most will tell you America. But in Australia and Hong Kong, we don't watch enough American racing. It's a different style and we don't always understand it. So American jockeys don't get the respect they deserve from us.
I'd love to see American jockeys take short stints in Hong Kong. They'd thrive. But the financial equation doesn't stack up. The good ones earn too much at home. And wherever American citizens go in the world, they still pay US tax — so Hong Kong's low tax rate, one of the great appeals for overseas riders, doesn't help them the way it helps an Australian or a European.
It's a shame, because when Gary Stevens came in the 1990s and rode brilliantly, he proved it can work.
This article first appeared in Idol Horse as "Jose Ortiz’s Kentucky Derby Ride Was A Masterclass. Are America’s Jockeys The Best In The World?"
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
