Irad Ortiz Jr. Wins First Keeneland Riding Title; Wesley Ward Tops Trainers For Eighth Time In Spring

Wesley Ward won the first two races on closing day to tally 12 wins for his seventh consecutive and eighth overall Spring Meet leading trainer title. Ward has won a total of 10 Keeneland titles. His Spring Meet was highlighted by a victory in the Palisades with Fandom.

Trainers Chad Brown and Brad Cox tied for second place with eight wins each. Brown recorded wins in the Toyota Blue Grass (G1) with Sierra Leone, the Jenny Wiley (G1) with Beaute Cache (FR) and the Baird Doubledogdare (G3) with Raging Sea. Cox captured the MiddleGround Capital Beaumont (G2) with Denim and Pearls, the Stonestreet Lexington (G3) with Encino and the closing-day Bewitch (G3) with Chop Chop.

Other trainers to win multiple stakes during the meet were Todd Pletcher (the Central Bank Ashland (G1) with Leslie’s Rose and the Ben Ali (G3) with Kingsbarns) and Charlie Appleby (the Maker’s Mark Mile [G1] with Master of The Seas and the VisitLEX Elkhorn [G2] with Silver Knott).

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Godolphin and Fahad bin Khalid’s Juddmonte tied with five wins apiece to each earn their third Spring Meet owner title. Godolphin recorded a fifth Keeneland title overall while earning the Milestone Pitcher as part of the track's signature Milestone Trophy Program for having achieved 16 graded stakes wins at Keeneland. Three of Godolphin’s wins came in stakes: the Maker’s Mark Mile with Master of The Seas, the VisitLEX Elkhorn with Silver Knott and the Stonestreet Lexington with Encino.