Jose Ortiz Wins Fair Grounds Title Going Away; Sharp and Godolphin Awarded Titles

By Kevin Kilroy —-

Jose Ortiz Wins Fair Grounds Title Going Away

New Orleans, La (March 24, 2025) – On Sunday, Jose Ortiz was named leading rider in his first meet at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Bagging 98 races, including five on closing day, Ortiz was best by 43, winning the most by any jockey since Florent Geroux tallied the same amount in 2016 – 2017.

“I feel great,” Ortiz said. “The goal was to come in here and win as many as we could and to compete with the other guys. Timing the rides right was a huge part of my success, and I came here early to figure out the long stretch and tight turns. I feel I adapted quickly, but I was riding live horses as well.”

On closing day Ortiz put an exclamation mark on his masterful season, adding five notches to his total, including the last race of the meet in the $100,000 Shantel Lanerie Memorial aboard Liberal Lady.

“I’ve had huge support from the trainers and owners here in Louisiana and I really appreciate it,” Ortiz said. “I want to thank all of them, and especially everyone working on the backside. Without all of them, it’s impossible to do it.”

Represented by Steve Rushing, Ortiz’s notable victories at the 76-day stand were aboard Hall of Fame in the $250,000 Mineshaft (G2) and piloting Gigante to consecutive stakes scores in the $100,000 Buddy Diliberto and $100,000 Colonel E.R. Bradley.

“Steve (Rushing) did such a nice job with my book,” Ortiz said. “I’m very thankful to have him as my agent. Hopefully I’ll be back next year. We’ll sit down and figure it out, but I don’t see why not.”

Riding first call for the meet’s top barn, Ortiz also played a key role in Joe Sharp clinching his first leading trainer’s title. Having played second fiddle in the standings four straight meets from 2015 – 2019, Sharp finished strong with 9 wins over closing week for a total of 40.

“In some of the years it didn’t seem like the right thing to push for (the title), but this year with how we were sitting a month out, we wanted to do it,” Sharp said. “Our team works hard, and all my assistants work their butts off. Mid-meet I started to feel an obligation (to win the title) for them. They were watching closely and I saw how engaged they were.”

Brad Cox ran second with 31, and last-year’s leading trainer Shane Wilson closed out the meet in style winning 17 of the barn’s 27 coming in the final two months.

With 11 wins, Godolphin led all owners for their second local title. Their homebred filly Good Cheer took both the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and $300,000 Rachel Alexandra (G2), putting her at the top of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard. Teaming up with Brad Cox, Godolphin accomplished repeat victories in both stakes after Tarifa’s 2024 successes.

All photos by Hodges Photography

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About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, one of the nation’s oldest racetracks, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, La, Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 15 off-track betting parlors throughout Southeast Louisiana. The 153rd Thoroughbred Racing Season–highlighted by the 112th running of the Louisiana Derby–will run from Nov. 22, 2024 through March 23, 2025. More information is available online at www.fgno.com.