SerpApi.Org
Leading jockey Jose Ortiz won't be riding at Saratoga Race Course on Thursday as he serves a one-day suspension for a riding crop violation.
Ortiz was suspended for one day and fined $500 by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for using his crop seven times on his mount Full Screen in the 10th race at Saratoga on July 4.
HISA rules permit a maximum of six strikes with the riding crop by a jockey during a race. Striking the horse one to three more times over the limit, as Ortiz was found to do, is considered a Class 3 violation.
According to the decision rendered by HISA, it was Ortiz's first offense in 180 days. He waived a hearing to contest the violation.
Ortiz finished second aboard favored Full Screen in the race in question, a length behind longshot winner Warp Nine in a 1-mile allowance optional claimer for older horses on the dirt track.
Ortiz and Flavien Prat are currently tied for the lead among jockeys with 19 wins apiece through the first 11 days of racing at Saratoga.
Ortiz is the meet's leading money-winner so far, with more than $2.2 million in earnings from 82 starts.
Subscribe
There’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.Read this story on timesunion.com
