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Congressional Daily Record
This section is a tribute, commemoration, or district-facing statement. It mentions members such as Pablo José Hernández. Extensions of Remarks are statements submitted for the official record, even if they were not spoken live on the floor.
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May 12, 2026
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Download official Extensions PDFReturn to issue contextHONORING JOSE LUIS ORTIZ, AND IRAD ORTIZ JR., PUERTO RICO'S CHAMPION
BROTHERS WHO CONQUERED THE 152ND KENTUCKY DERBY
HON. PABLO JOSE HERNANDEZ
of puerto rico
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Mr. HERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor two extraordinary sons of Puerto Rico whose achievements on May 2, 2026, at Churchill Downs resonated far beyond the finish line of the 152nd Kentucky Derby. Puerto Rican jockey Jose Luis Ortiz, riding the longshot Golden Tempo, crossed the wire first, surpassing by a matter of strides his own older brother, Irad Ortiz, Jr., who piloted Renegade to second place. In doing so, these two brothers from Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, gave the world of thoroughbred racing one of its rarest family tableaus, and gave the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico one of its proudest moments in sports history.
Juan, Irad, Jr. on August 11, 1992, and Jose on October 2, 1993, both brothers grew up in a family where racing was not a career but a calling: their grandfather add an uncle were jockeys before them, and a legendary Puerto Rican Hall of Fame rider served as an early inspiration and later a mentor to them both. Both brothers are proud graduates of the Escuela Vocacional Hipica Agustin Mercado Reveron, the government-funded, tuition-free jockey academy on the grounds of Hipodromo Camarero in Canovanas. Puerto Rico, widely regarded as the premier jockey school in North America. Its alumni have earned nine Eclipse Awards for Outstanding Jockey and have produced some of the sport's most celebrated riders, with approximately 80 percent of graduates going directly to United States racetracks and the school's reach extending to draw students from the mainland as well.
Jose Luis Ortiz has built a career for the ages. In 2017, he won the Belmont Stakes and earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. In 2022, he captured the Preakness Stakes. On May 2, 2026, he completed a rare sweep of all three American Triple Crown races, guiding 23-1 longshot Golden Tempo to victory in the Kentucky Derby, one of thoroughbred racing's most celebrated career milestones.
Irad Ortiz, Jr. has been equally relentless in his pursuit of greatness. He has led all North American riders in wins for nine consecutive years, from 2017 through 2025, a span of dominance without parallel in the modern era. His Triple Crown victories include the Belmont Stakes in both 2016 and 2022. A five-time Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Jockey, he became in 2025 the first jockey in history to surpass $40 million in single-season earnings, a record that speaks to the unshakable trust that the sport's top trainers and owners place in him.
Mr. Speaker, the name Ortiz finishing first and second at the 152nd Kentucky Derby was no accident. It is the culmination of a multigenerational family's sacrifice and the transformative, tuition- free education of the Escuela Vocacional Hipica Agustin Mercado Reveron. I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Jose Luis Ortiz and Irad Ortiz, Jr. on their extraordinary careers, and in recognizing that institution and its dedicated faculty and leadership for the work they do every day for young people from Puerto Rico and beyond who dare to dream of crossing the finish line first.