OCALA, FL (352today.com) – A pair of jockey brothers whose profiles recently rose significantly due to their first-and-second finishes in this year’s Kentucky Derby, and who both have Ocala connections, are back in the headlines this week for an entirely different and less celebratory reason.
José Ortiz, who rode Golden Tempo to victory at the Derby, and his brother, Irad Ortiz, Jr., who took second riding Renegade, have been accused of actively participating in cockfighting in Puerto Rico, a United States territory where the practice has been illegal since 2019, when it was determined the mid-’60s Animal Welfare Act was enforceable there.
Legality aside, cockfighting in Puerto Rico is an open secret, where many publicly defend it as a cultural tradition.
Nonprofit anti-cruelty and animal rights organization Animal Wellness Action issued a press release on Friday, May 15, 2026, accusing the brothers of the participation, which cited an investigative report by USA Today and included a link to a video post on social media platform X that shows two men who resemble the Ortiz brothers not only attending a cockfight, but also actively entering the “ring” in which the animals fight.
“Cockfighting is a sadistic and cruel practice that inflicts slash wounds and stabbing injuries for the thrill of bloodletting and illegal gambling, and along with dogfighting, is the most severely and widely criminalized form of animal cruelty,” Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, contributed to the announcement. “Participation in such conduct is fundamentally incompatible with the responsibilities expected of licensed jockeys and other racing professionals who have animal-care responsibilities.”
Both brothers have connections to Ocala and its deep roots in the thoroughbred racing industry. Renegade, the horse Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode to second place in the Derby, was trained amid Ocala’s industry infrastructure. For his part, though reports suggest he has since relocated to Kentucky, José Ortiz purchased land in the local area for a farm where he lived at least part-time with his wife, Taylor Rice, herself a former jockey and part of a family famous in the industry for generations.
Animal Wellness Action is calling on the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority “to establish a formal policy suspending jockeys and trainers implicated in documented animal cruelty crimes and to adopt explicit rules barring participation in animal fighting ventures because of their connection to illegal gambling and organized criminal activity.”
At press time, both brothers are still scheduled to ride in The Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 15, 2026. The Preakness is the second event in thoroughbred racing’s famed Triple Crown.