• 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00It's been a big summer for trainer Johnny Ortiz as he got his first stakes win in Saratoga
00:06just a few weeks into his very first meet here.
00:09We caught up with Ortiz and Adirondack Stakes winner Brightwork the morning after their
00:13big win.
00:18Just through my binoculars I just watched her coming towards me and I was just, I took
00:24it all in.
00:25You know everybody's yelling and screaming and jumping around me and I was just waiting
00:28until she crossed the wire, once she crossed the wire I put my binoculars down and I was
00:32just proud.
00:33Checked off the bucket list.
00:34With authority, no doubt about it, performance from Brightwork who wins it by four widening
00:41lengths.
00:42I think it hasn't hit yet, I'm very proud that we got a win here, I feel, I feel like
00:48I belong.
00:49You know, I just, it didn't, I'm not a rookie trainer anymore, you know, I still, we all
00:55got, every day we got something to learn on the racetrack but I feel like, you know, I
01:00know, we know what we're doing, we're here to compete and here we are.
01:05She was picked out at the sale by Jared Hughes which has been doing a fantastic job and this
01:10filly's showing some talent early, she's showing some, some pretty good mindset and I said
01:15I think she's going to be ready before we think she will be and she did.
01:20Obviously we want to work backwards from the Breeders' Cup and, you know, we're already
01:26in town so the grade one spin away is definitely probably the next stop we're going to be in
01:31there.
01:32To be able to win for these type of connections that is incredible, you know, we got support
01:38from all our clients, all our owners, you know, they know how hard we work, they know
01:42how much we care about these animals day in and day out.
01:47She's a special, look at her, she's a doll.
01:51The barn's grown substantially over the years, you know, the first year I had seven horses
01:58and at the end of that year I was driving back down to Oakland with like four horses
02:03and I was just, I don't think this is going to end up working and, you know, I don't know,
02:07God blessed me when Mr. Hoody Moore and Bill Simon called me for a job interview to take
02:13in 20 horses and then from then on people just noticed that it doesn't matter what kind
02:17of horse we had, we just give it our all and a long time ago, you know, I told my brother
02:22that, you know, once this, you know, I need him to be able to step up and, you know, represent
02:27the Ortiz family, not just the barn, like, you know, we're all working on this together,
02:32you know, I don't have my name on the logo, you know, it's just two stripes, it's just
02:36me and him together, you know, make this work as a team and it's a privilege, I feel like
02:39it's just an honor coming up to Saratoga, you know, as a kid growing up in New York
02:44watching Belmont Aqueduct, you know, it's just, this is the place you want to be, the
02:48sky's the limit right now, we let this barn grow as far as it goes and hopefully Saratoga
02:52will help boost us, get some more quality horses in the barn as well.

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