Whenever the time comes, I will be ready." I'm going to start running again to get ready for when racing returns. "On Saturdays, I gallop for my other brother-in-law (Kevin). "I'm getting on four or five horses a morning for my brother-in-law (Adam), Monday through Friday." Ortiz said. He said he could return at Churchill Downs or Belmont Park, depending upon which track opens first. Ortiz, the 2017 Eclipse Award-winning rider, is also using this time to prepare for a return to riding. We're also working on getting the permits we need to build our house on this land." "I'm outside all the time, and I'm really enjoying it. Cut the grass, plant some oak trees, fix fences," Ortiz said by phone April 17. But with the Keeneland meet canceled and a delayed opening at Belmont Park – to a date yet to be determined – Ortiz is enjoying his new role as a gentleman farmer. If these were normal times, Ortiz would be finishing up Keeneland's spring meet and then moving his tack to New York for Belmont Park's spring stand. This decision came at the same time COVID-19 began its rage in the United States, and Ortiz thought it was best for him and Taylor and their two young children, Leilani and Derek Jose, to decamp to the quiet environs of Ocala. After three days of competing, however, Ortiz's wrist began nagging him, and he decided it needed more time to heal. 22 in a post parade accident at Gulfstream Park and was sidelined until March 14. Taylor's father, Wayne, and two brothers, Adam and Kevin, are also trainers, as was her late grandfather, Clyde Rice, the patriarch of this racing dynasty. Her aunt, Linda Rice, is one of New York's leading trainers. ![]() Taylor Rice, a former jockey, is part of the Rice family's long lineage of horsemen and horsewomen. Ortiz hasn't ridden in a race since March 18 and has been in Ocala ever since, living with his wife's family, who are among the heart and soul of Ocala's Thoroughbred community.
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