Alabama Stakes (Group 1)

JOSE Ortiz pulled off the rain-soaked green-on-green silks, slipped off his green hat cover and held his helmet in his hands, the one with “I love my Family” in white ink on the back.

“The colors are light,” Ortiz said, tossing the silks on the table outside the jocks’ room. “But they’re heavy.”

Riding the favorite in the Grade 1 Alabama last Saturday for the high-profile team of Peter Brant and Chad Brown can be heavy with pressure. Dunbar Road took the pressure off, answering Ortiz’s audibles like a Saturday Night Live sidekick to score by two and three-quarter lengths over Point Of Honor and Street Band. The daughter of Quality Road, bred by Jeffery Drown, finished one and a quarter miles over a sloppy, sealed track in 2:04.07.

Sopping wet and mud splattered, Ortiz explained what it takes to be leading jockey at Saratoga, what it takes to win iconic races like the Alabama. It starts with the trainer, most importantly his instructions. It includes the horse, her adaptability and ability. And it hinges on the jockey, his instincts.

Somebody breaks bad

“Don’t give me one instruction. When they give you one instruction it makes it harder if it doesn’t go that way,” Ortiz said. “Most of the time, the race changes, somebody breaks bad, somebody stumbles, somebody thinks like you. When they give you confidence, it makes a big difference.”

In the paddock before the Alabama, Brown gave Ortiz freedom, which delivered confidence.

“You know the filly, ride her however you want,” Brown said. “If they give you the lead, take it. If you’re there and you’re comfortable, take it.”

Ortiz loved the flexibility.

“He gave me confidence,” Ortiz said. “I feel like I can do what I want, what I know to do, ride horses.”

Dunbar Road did the rest, picking up her first Grade 1 stakes score in her fifth career start. She now has a four-for-five record and is only getting better.

“I grew up watching these silks winning big races, just dreaming to ride these kinds of horses,” Ortiz said.

“There is a lot of pressure in the game, but I try not to put pressure on me. If I have the horse, I know I have the ability. If the horse is 100%, you always have a shot.

“We have great horses, they’re 100%. That’s the beauty of the business, if you think you have a good horse, somebody else has a good horse and somebody else has a good horse, they face up. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”

With Dunbar Road, they always win.

Power up for Pacific

Pacific Classic Stakes (Grade 1)

$250,000. That was the price Higher Power fetched from the Keeneland April Sale this year. Lane’s End Bloodstock purchased the four-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro for Hronis Racing. Four months later, the price looked like a bargain as Higher Power sat close to the pace and drew off to win the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar last Saturday. Trained by John Sadler and ridden by Flavien Prat, Higher Power walloped nine rivals by just over five lengths.

Sadler and owners Peter and Kosta Hronis won the Pacific Classic last year with Accelerate.

“We’re so blessed to have great horses and a great trainer with a great staff. I can’t say enough about that,” Kosta Hronis said.

“We felt no pressure today because my wife had surgery on Friday and she did great and is still doing well. Higher Power was an appropriate name today. I was going to stay with her today and she said, ‘No, you’re going to the race. If you don’t, I’m never going again.’ I called her right after the race and she was thrilled.”

New York Turf Writers Cup (Grade 1 handicap)

IRISH breds swept the first three places in the Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup at Saratoga on Thursday.

Favorite Winston C (Rip Van Winkle) settled near the back of the eight-horse field, geared into action leaving the backside and drew off to win by nine lengths over Gibralfaro who nosed out Belisarius to win the $150,000 hurdle stakes.

Owned by Hudson River Farm, trained by Jonathan Sheppard and ridden by Tom Garner, Winston C improved his American record to two-for-three and became the first horse in 20 years to sweep the the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick and Turf Writers at Saratoga in the same summer.

Garner, riding with a broken collarbone suffered last week, was awed by the winner.

“He’s the nicest horse I’ve ever sat on at the racecourse. He’s a tool,” Garner said.

“I talked to Noel Fehily after the Smithwick and he said he would be competitive at Cheltenham next year. I’m open there.”