TORONTO – Irad Ortiz Jr. is no stranger to the winner’s circle south of the border and has wasted no time making a name for himself in Canada’s elite thoroughbred racing series.
Ortiz won the 162nd running of the million Queen’s Plate on Sunday and won the first leg of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown.
It was the first Queen’s record for Ortiz, a three-time Eclipse Award winner as a Top Jockey.
He is no stranger to big wins in the United States. Ortiz is an 11-time Breeders’ Cup winner and rode creator to victory in the Belmont Stakes.
He took the opportunity Sunday, ran safely to the top of the pack on the final track and completed the Woodbine’s 1 1/4-mile Tapeta course in two minutes, 2.85 seconds for the winning prize.
“It was a game,” Ortiz said of the three-year-old stallion. “He just struggled all the way across the track. Honestly, he reacted very well.
“The Coach did a great job, he was ready to run.”
Safe Conduct, the 3-1 favorite, withstood several challenges from his competitors, including a after strike from Riptide Rock (11-1) that required a photo-finish to clarify.
“I went ahead and hit him at the top of the track. And when I met him, he reacted really well,” Ortiz said after the race. “He kept moving forward. I saw someone flying outside… it was very tight, I didn’t know if I had won the race after the wire, but thank God I did it.”
H C Holiday (29-1) Finished third. Munnyfork, winner of the Woodbine Oaks, was one of the favorites in the race with a score of 7: 2.
Safe Conduct’s win denied the Attard family the Queen’s Plate title, which has ties to six of the 13 horses that entered the race.
Kevin Attard, still looking for his first Queen’s Plate win as a trainer, had H C Holiday, Munnyfor Ro, Haddassah and Harlan Estate on the field.
Keep Grinding, ranked 5th in the Queen’s Plate draw on Wednesday, is the son of Attard, Joshua, and is trained by his father, Tino. And Kevin Attard’s uncle, Sid, is Riptide Rock.
Safe Conduct is owned by WellSpring Stables and is trained by Philip Serpe.
“He trained like a bear,” said the three-year-old stallion’s breeder, Mitchell Kursner. “The general rule is that if you are a beautiful horse on the grass, you will translate on the Tapeta and we are just delighted.
“They’ve done a wonderful job of bringing this horse in.”
Ortiz confided to his agent that he had given him his first ride of the Queen’s Plate.
“It’s always a great feeling to come here,” he added. “It’s a pleasure for me to come here. I have a lot of Fans. They showed me a little Love. I really enjoyed it.”
Fans were once again in the stands for the legendary race, after being denied permission on the Woodbine Circuit due to recent times protocols for the edition.
About 5,000 tickets have been sold for Sunday’s race. More than 35,000 spectators have visited the Queen’s Plate in recent years.
While the crowd was relatively small, the event returned to a festive feeling. Decorated Olympic swimmers Penny Oleksiak and Kayla Sanchez were on hand as race ambassadors, and Canadian musician Jim Cuddy performed live.
The Queen’s Plate, the opening jewel in Canada’s triple Crown, is the longest purebred stakes race in North America.
The second leg of the Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, goes Sept.14 on the Fort Erie Circuit.