Jose Ortiz posted his first graded stakes win of 2026 at Fair Grounds Race Course on Road to the Kentucky Derby Day aboard Golden Tempo in the Lecomte Stakes (G3), one of six stakes races on the day. Earlier on the card, he also won the Marie G. Krantz Memorial with Medoro. The panel of racing experts voted Ortiz Jockey of the Week January 12-January 18.
The weekly honor recognizes jockeys for significant riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild. Founded in 1940, the Guild represents more than 1050 active, retired, and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Heading into Saturday's stakes-laden card, Ortiz had a mount in nearly every one of the 13 races. With a win in the fourth race for trainer Norm Casse, Ortiz then got a leg up on California invader Medoro for trainer Peter Eurton, who has a string of horses at Fair Grounds for the first time.
Off as the even-money favorite in the field of 10, the 5-year-old Medoro raced in mid-pack as longshot Cupids Crush led the field through six furlongs. Ortiz tipped Medoro out at the top of the stretch and closed relentlessly, overtaking 27-1 Cupids Cush in the final furlong to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:42.17 for a mile and one-sixteenth over the turf for fillies and mares four-years-old and up.
"It was a horse race in the end," said Ortiz to Fair Grounds publicity. "Cupids Cush kept digging in, but I think I had a very good trip. I was able to drop her into the rail, save a lot of ground, and when I asked her to go, she was there for me."
The feature Lecomte Stakes (G3) offered 42 points towards a starting berth in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Piloted by Ortiz and trained by Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo went off as the favorite at 5-2 in the field of 10. Breaking a step slow, Golden Tempo was last heading into the far turn when Ortiz saw an opening and guided Golden Tempo to the rail and began to pick off his rivals. With a patient ride by Ortiz, Golden Tempo posted a last-to-first win by three-quarters of a length in 1:44.98 for a mile and one-sixteenth.
"I followed (stablemate) Mesquite until the three-eighths pole: he went outside, and I went inside," said Ortiz. "Luckily, I got an opening, and the horse did the rest."
Riding at Fair Grounds for the second straight year, Ortiz is defending his leading rider title and is currently in first place.
This week, Ortiz is riding at Fair Grounds until Saturday, when he heads to Gulfstream Park for the World Pegasus Day program and mounts in eight of the 10 stakes races.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week included Armando Ayuso who won the Cal Cup Derby at Santa Anita, Kent Desormeaux who won the Unusual Heat Turf Classic at Santa Anita, Brian Hernandez, Jr. with a win the Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds, Samuel Marin with two 4-win days during the week and Flavien Prat who won the Louisiana Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds.
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