Puerto Rican jockey Jose Ortiz led Early Voting to victory at the 147th Preakness Stakes race in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday, upsetting favourite Epicenter yet again, and clinching the $1.65 million prize money.

Speaking after the race, the 28-year-old Puerto Rican said, “It’s amazing. This race is a dream come true for any rider, you know? It’s a Triple Crown race. Already won the Belmont, but I’ve never won the Preakness before.”

Also read | Preakness Stakes 2022: List of horses

“We were very close with Good Magic. I still feel he was the best horse in the race that day, but it was crazy conditions and fog, sloppy. And honestly, I didn’t have the best trip,” Ortiz added, commenting on his last attempt to win the prestigious race.

“Yeah, he [Early Voting] is a very good horse out of the gate. He always has been. He broke well, and that was the main thing. Break good. Go forward,” the jockey further said, heaping praise on race winner Early Voting.

Also read | All about Preakness Stakes, the middle derby in Triple Crown

Born to a family of jockeys in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Ortiz got into the sport at an early age, attending the Escuela Vocacional Hípica, a school for prospective jockeys in Puerto Rico, before moving to the US in 2012.

No stranger to winning, Ortiz secured his first win at the Breeders’ Cup, and was the leading jockey in North America in 2016 in terms of the number of wins: by late July 2016, Ortiz had notched a whopping 1,000 career wins. A year later, he won the prestigious Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey after winning the 2017 Belmont Stakes race, the third race of the Triple Crown.

Also read | Preakness Stakes 2022: Racing odds, picks for second jewel of Triple Crown

Apart from his two Triple Crown wins, Ortiz also boasts wins in several major races, including, Hopeful Stakes, Beldame Stakes, Frizette Stakes, Madison Stakes, and Kentucky Oaks, among many others.

As per National Earnings List for Jockeys 2021, Ortiz was ranked 4th.