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JOSE ORTIZ, MAGNITUDE \/ G1 Dubai World Cup \/\/ Meydan \/\/\/ 2026 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Dubai Racing Club <\/p>\nJose Ortiz\u2019s ride on Golden Tempo in the Kentucky Derby \u2013 beating his brother Irad in a fighting finish \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
The two greatest riders I\u2019ve seen are Lester Piggott and Gary Stevens. I rode against both. Stevens was American \u2013 I\u2019ll come back to him, because his story is worth telling. But first, what Jose Ortiz did at Churchill Downs, and why it was so good.<\/p>\n
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 to be closer. To do that takes enormous self-belief. You have to not care what anyone says. You have to trust that you\u2019re doing the best thing for the horse \u2013 not the safest thing for your reputation.<\/p>\n
Most jockeys ride not to lose \u2013 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\u2019t give his horse the best chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ortiz did the opposite. At around the 1000-metre mark, he went to come out wide \u2013 you can see it perfectly on the overhead drone shot. Then, in a split second, he spots his brother Irad\u2019s colours 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\u2019s back.<\/p>\n
He peeled off at the 200 and had all the energy in the world.<\/p>\n
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 \u2013 hard \u2013 and within one stride switches to the left and cracks it again. The strength is unbelievable. It\u2019s a skill you don\u2019t hear talked about enough \u2013 switching whip hands quickly, in rhythm. Moreira does it brilliantly. But the Americans hit harder. It\u2019s clean, sharp and devastating.<\/p>\n
JOSE ORTIZ, MAGNITUDE \/ G1 Dubai World Cup \/\/ Meydan \/\/\/ 2026 \/\/\/\/ Photo by Dubai Racing Club <\/p>\n
Those boys ride over 300 winners a year. Irad\u2019s mounts earned over US$40 million in prize money last season \u2013 a world record. Jose\u2019s earned US$34 million. At 10 per cent of the winner\u2019s share, they\u2019re taking home serious money. James McDonald\u2019s best season in Australia was A$36 million \u2013 at just 5 per cent of stake money, that\u2019s about A$1.8 million. Irad\u2019s 10 per cent of US$40 million is roughly A$6 million. There\u2019s no comparison.<\/p>\n
Ask the top jockeys around the world where the best riders are based and most will tell you America. But in Australia and Hong Kong, we don\u2019t watch enough American racing. It\u2019s a different style and we don\u2019t always understand it. So jockeys based in America don\u2019t get the respect they deserve from us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d love to see American jockeys take short stints in Hong Kong. They\u2019d thrive. But the financial equation doesn\u2019t stack up. The good ones earn too much at home. And wherever American citizens go in the world, they still pay US tax \u2013 so Hong Kong\u2019s low tax rate, one of the great appeals for overseas riders, doesn\u2019t help them the way it helps an Australian or a European.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a shame, because when Gary Stevens came in the 1990s and rode brilliantly, he proved it can work. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Best I\u2019ve Ever Seen\u201d: Gary Stevens And The Ride That Changed My Mind<\/p>\n
My eyes were first opened to American riding in 1986. I was 20 years old and I was in Los Angeles riding at the Hollywood Gold Cup meeting. Gary Stevens was the leading jockey in California. He was only a couple of years older than me but he was something else. He rode 15 winners that week in Los Angeles. I\u2019d never seen anything like it.<\/p>\n
I come from a New Zealand and Australian background. In those days, the style was all about power. Jockeys like Mick Dittman \u2013 the Enforcer \u2013 could stand over any horse. That was what we valued. Strength, aggression, dominance.<\/p>\n
Stevens didn\u2019t look strong in the way I was used to. But horses ran for him in a way I couldn\u2019t explain. He had balance that was almost supernatural. I remember racing against him overseas one day. I was sitting three-deep with cover on the turn, travelling well \u2013\u00a0thinking I was going to win \u2013 and he was out four-wide, outside of me, with nothing in front of him. His horse looked gone \u2013 he was pushing it with 800 metres to go. I thought his horse had no hope of winning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Guess what? It won.<\/p>\n
I went back and did the form. His horse was an outsider. It had no form. How did he win on it? That question stayed with me. It changed the way I looked at riding.<\/p>\n
Gary once said something to me I\u2019ve never forgotten. He said: \u201cShane, the difference between us is I can put a glass of champagne on my back while I\u2019m riding a finish and it will still be there at the end. You can\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was right. The American style is so still, so polished. They push from the shoulders \u2013 push, push, push \u2013 and they stay in rhythm with the horse. It looks effortless, but when you see their physique, they\u2019re incredibly strong. It\u2019s just a different kind of strength. Lester Piggott was the same. Gary mentioned Lester to me once and said: \u201cEven Lester couldn\u2019t do it. He just whacked them.\u201d They were both right, in their own way. Horses ran for both of them, they just got results in different ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stevens came to Hong Kong for a three-month stint in the 1994\/95 season and was sensational. He rode 20 winners from 89 rides \u2013 a 22.5 per cent strike rate. That\u2019s an extraordinary number for a short-term licence holder in Hong Kong, where it takes most jockeys a full season just to learn the tracks and the system. He walked in cold and dominated.<\/p>\n
What was interesting about that stint, is that he sometimes sat wide on horses \u2013\u00a0which is unusual in Hong Kong and generally doesn\u2019t work \u2013\u00a0but horses tried for Gary in a way that they didn\u2019t for other jockeys. He had a special gift.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I spoke to Gary only last week. He retired in 2018 after another surgery and he has had a rough go of it physically lately \u2013 another back fusion, reduced feeling in his legs and arms for a while. He\u2019s starting to come back. But the injuries from all those falls over the years have taken their toll. Getting old is no good after a career like that.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a good bloke, Gary. And he was, alongside Lester Piggott, the best I\u2019ve ever seen. \u220e<\/p>\n
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